





,\ - \\ : \ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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TETCHY Fm\ 



im * Ti^¥el 




BY R. A. YOUNG. ^ 



DEC 14 189? 



Printed for the Author. 

Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

Barbee & Smith, Agents, Nashville, Tenn. 

JS92. 



V 



1 



'■I 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1891, 

By R. A. Young, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



"©edication. 

To 

The Beloved Wife and Children, 

Who Have Been My Constant Companions in All the 

Oriental and European Journeys, 

This Book Is 

AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 



<aA fJote of preparation 



Even in this day of superior facilities for the tour- 
ist, comparatively few of our people go abroad; aud 
most of those who do travel appear to have no high- 
er motive than self-gratification. True benefactors 
of the reading world are the select minority of trav- 
elers who study every thing from the best point of 
view, and faithfully chronicle the results in available 
form. To this honorable class, whose mission it is 
to please and instruct mankind, our author, Dr. 
Young, pre-eminently belongs. His tour of the far 
East, some years ago, was described with master- 
touch in his "Twenty Thousand Miles; " but this ac- 
count of his recent eight months' excursion through 
Europe, when the experiences were altogether differ- 
ent and more stimulating, will give him a clearer 
title to the high rank we have assigned him. It is 
indeed a charming record of travel, and by him hap- 
pily styled "Sketchy Pages." The auspicious so- 
journ in England and France, and the leisurely pas- 
sage into Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia, Turkey, 
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc., afforded "sketchy" 
material without limit for this always cheery compag- 
non de voyage. With the genuine vim and elastic 
tread of youth, he leads us away from beaten paths, 

(5) 



6 A NOTE OF PREPARATION. 

or makes old things seem new; for he sees with re- 
fined vision, catching and interpreting as by instinct 
the truest spirit of strange peoples and places. He 
is uniformly sage, terse, piquant in narration, while 
an air of purest altruism pervades his every sketch, 
and a rich deposit of historic lore underlies all. 

Many have been anticipating this volume with 
pleasurable emotions. They enjoyed a foretaste of it in 
the letters given to the public from time to time dur- 
ing the progress of Dr. Young's journey. Read as a 
whole, these letters will be found to reflect with more 
distinctness the individuality of the writer. This 
characteristic quality amounts to real genius in 
Dr. Young, and its presence in these pages will im- 
part higher relish to their perusal. Like Cowper's 
pilgrim, 

He travels, and expatiates: as the bee 

From flower to flower, so he from land to land. 

The manners, customs, policies of all 

Pay contribution to the store he gleans ; 

He sucks intelligence from every clime, 

And spreads the honey of his deep research 

At his return — a rich repast for me. 

That means for every one into whose hands this 
treasure of a book shall come. And now that the 
" note of preparation " has been sounded, let young 
and old, without number, enter upon this ideal " feast 
of good things." They will soon discover that no 
vain expectations have been raised by these com- 
mendatory words. John L. Kirby. 

Nashville, September 3, 1891. 



©ontent^. 



PAGE 

"The Booking Office" 11 

Ad Interim 16 

The Voyagers 21 

"My Journey into Spain" 28 

Madrid 35 

Seville 43 

The Alhambra and the Mosque 51 

Eunning Out of Spain 59 

A Connecting Link 66 

Second Connecting Link 74 

Another Connecting Link 81 

The Last Connecting Link 88 

The German Capital 97 

"Holy Moscow " 106 

The Eussian Capital 115 

North of the Baltic Sea 124 

Still Due North 131 

Toward the Midnight Sun 139 

London Day by Day 147 

Paris Day by Day 157 

Farewell to France 163 

Eesume 168 

(7) 



SKETCHY PS6E8 of FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

(9) 



" THE BOOKING OFFICE.' 



EMERSON says that traveling is the para- 
dise of fools. But Emerson says a thou- 
sand things that nobody pretends to under- 
stand or believe. In early life he made a 
pilgrimage to the genius of Carlyle, of 
Wordsworth, of Landor, and wrote his name 
several hundred miles up the Nile. Later, he 
lectured all over the British Isles and the 
United States. He ought to know how to 
pronounce on "globe-trotters." 

New York, with the adjoining cities, is a 
wonderful hive of humanity. Put them all 
together, like Ave do Constantinople, and you 
have the largest city in the world but one. 
It takes Stamboul, Pera, and Galata on the 
European side, and Scutari on the Asiatic, 
to make up Lamartine's "predestined capi- 
tal." So if you were to extend these corpo- 
ration lines around New York, Brooklyn, 

Jersey City, and Hoboken, the place would 

fin 



12 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TEA VEL. 

be twice the size of Constantinople. The 
city on the Bosporus has no grander ap- 
proaches than this on Manhattan Island. But 
Xew York lacks antiquity, history, and tra- 
dition. So we cross the seas. 

I have spent the day examining steamers, 
especially those of the French line — " Trans- 
atlantique." Splendor is the word to use in 
a description of these ships. Surely naval 
architecture can do nothing beyond what I 
have seen to-day. 

The French ought to be good sailors, es- 
pecially those from Normandy. They come 
by their seamanship honestly — from the old 
Norse vikings, who plunged their prows into 
any port of Europe without saying, " By your 
leave." They do say, however, that when 
the storm is violent the Frenchman quits 
working and goes to praying. I heard this 
with pleasure, not knowing heretofore that 
devotion was one trait of his character. If I 
had heard that the louder the storm the more 
rapidly he "dances the cancan," I should not 
have been surprised. " O foolish Galatians, 
who hath bewitched you?" 



"the booking office/' lo 

I have been figuring* with these Gauls to- 
day, and making some contracts. Necessity 
compels me to trade more closely than 1 did 
four years ago. Then every man fancies that 
he owns a reputation for keeping his word. 
Certain promises are out that the entire ex- 
penses of this trip shall not exceed $1,800, 
and that it shall embrace nearly every king- 
dom and capital in Europe. 

For the best of reasons some of the happy 
party who traveled with us before will not be 
on this journey. But their places will be 
taken by other bright young people who want 
some information that reaches beyond pomp 
and millinery, and who are willing- to give 
up surplus funds. Of the class who say, 
" Give me money, and I will deny you noth- 
ing," there will be no representative. 

If Providence permit, we shall sail about 
the last week in January, so as to spend a 
winter month in the south of Spain, Andalu- 
sia. During the spring we shall be zigzaging 
about over historic and classical spots. The 
summer will be passed among the Russians, 
Finns, Swedes, Danes, iSTorse, and Lapps. 



14 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TEA VEL. 

The best time to see the English — that quiet 
and inconsolable race — is in the early au- 
tumn. 

Broadway is so exceedingly noisy and un- 
interesting to me that I came over to Jersey 
City to-night. This letter is the result. To- 
morrow I must look after the statue of Com- 
modore Yanderbilt. 1 have a dozen bids 
from the sculptors here. There are two whose 
prices I can reach — thanks to the liberality 
of Nashville citizens. If I find them to be 
genuine artists, and not mere monument 
builders, I shall close a contract with one of 
them. (When I speak of Nashville liberal- 
ity to any worthy enterprise, I wish to say 
that I have never seen it equaled anywhere 
else.) If a heroic bronze figure of the founder 
of our great university cannot be cast here, 
then it must be done in Munich, where the 
bronze workers of the world live. I hope 
also to see the grandson, Cornelius Yander- 
bilt, Jr., that I may gain some information 
that will benefit our re-investment commit- 
tee. 

I may hear Dr. Talmage on Sunday, though 



"the booking office." 15 

I confess to conscientious scruples. He has 
been preaching for years to the largest con- 
gregation in the world, and yet they are not 
sufficiently Christianized and consecrated to 
rebuild a place of worship. They borrow the 
money, and give note and mortgage. "I 
reckon" he is a mere sensational performer. 
If I am strong enough to give Talmage the 
slip, then John Hall and Charles F. Deems. 
When a man puts a text at the top, I insist 
upon having the pure gospel. 

I saw nothing new on the way to Xew 
York except Johnstown, and that looks rather 
old and dilapidated since the terrible disaster. 
Qood-niglit. 

New York, November 14, 1890. 



AD INTERIM. 



WHILE we were still at home, awaiting 
the departure of the French steamer, 
" La Bretagne," we enjoyed the company and 
profited by the instructions of some distin- 
guished travelers. I mean books. 

Of all the editors who travel, Henry M. 
Field is the most readable. There is a habit 
of authorship apparent in all he has done. It 
is manifest that he lives by his pen. 'Tis 
true he writes many pages about himself — the 
receptions, audiences, and entertainments of- 
fered him by orators, princes, and other 
grandees — yet he does it as delicately and 
modestly as one could expect. " Old Spain 
and ^ew Spain " and " Gibraltar " will charm 
many a dreary and many a lazy hour. 

Edward Everett Hale and his daughter 

have made themselves famous by a series of 

books called '* Family Flights." I suppose 

the old Doctor furnishes the information and 

the daughter does the writing. Their "Fam- 
(16) 



AD INTERIM. 17 

ily Flight o'er Spain " is equal to the one we 
read in Egypt, and that is praise enough. 
Histories of Spain are abundant, some of 
which we have read. 

On the Scandinavian countries and peoples 
old Mr. Laing and Dr. Baird have furnished 
the " bottom facts." These venerable chron- 
iclers have read their way back to Odin and 
beyond. What a realm of literature unknown 
to the men of average intelligence and cult- 
ure! At the close of Dr. J. M. Buckley's 
big book— "The Midnight Sun, the Tsar, 
and the Nihilist " — I wrote on the blank 
page: "Bright, full, accurate, from begin- 
ning to end." W. R. Morfiil's " Story of 
Russia " shows the hand of a laborious and 
delving scholar. I Le is the reader of the Rus- 
sian and Slavonic languages in the Univer- 
sity of Oxford. The young people of our 
party have all read "Fred Markham in Rus- 
sia," "The American Girl Abroad," "Per- 
sonally Conducted," and all the " Vassar 
Girls" series. I rather hesitate to say that 
I have spent one month on Buel's " Story of 
Man: A. History of the Human Race." 



18 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

My desire to visit the Iberian and Scandi- 
navian Peninsulas is no fresh-born emotion. 
This is what I wrote in the spring of 1887: 
" To see all the countries of Northern Europe 
may bring me back in a few years from this 
time. If Providence permit, I must see the 
ancient seats of those great races who have 
run all over the world and who are at pres- 
ent enlightening and benefiting mankind." 

In this meanwhile Bishop Key has been to 
see us. He is better than a book. There 
is always a room and a welcome and an ad- 
miration for him at our house. No day is so 
happy or so busy that the presence of Bishop 
Key does not improve it. Forty years ago 
we met in Griffin, Ga. We were rejoicing 
in our first white cravats and long frock- 
coats. The young man preached about Sam- 
son, and he has been getting stronger and 
stronger from that day to this. "We entered 
our first General Conference together, and 
have met in the same body six times since. 
At the close of an election in 1882 I got the 
office, and Dr. Key dined with me. At the 
close of another election in 1886 Dr. Key 



AD INTERIM. 19 

was elevated to the episcopacy, and I dined 
with him. I heard his first sermon after or- 
dination. We were in Norfolk, Va. The 
argrument was the best 1 had heard for his 
theory of scriptural holiness. Very good. 
Lie can afford to advance high views of "ho- 
liness" so long as his life illustrates them 
with such %i perfection." 

Dr. R. K. Brown called the other day. He 
is our pastor at West End. Brown draws 
and edifies. They believe what he says. Fn 
the midst of the conversation he asked: "How 
does the sea appear to you when you are in 
the midst of it? " Henry M. Field has written 
a chapter on the "Melancholy Sea." To me 
it always looks cruel. So it did to Racine 
when it suggested that fine line: 

Though cruel seas roll wide between us. 
The Doctor then asked: "How does a ship 
appear when you are on it?" At the wharf 
it looks like a monster five hundred and fifty 
feet in length; in the midst of a wide waste 
of waters it seems like an egg-shell. And so 
we two talked of the dreadful fascination of 
the sea, and the wonders of naval architecture. 



20 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOBEIGN TRAVEL. 

Eight of us have engaged rooms on the 
steamer "La Bretagne." Miss Dora Jones, 
of ]^orth Carolina, may stop in Paris. Dr. 
Bilbro would like to bring home a diploma 
from the Medical School of Vienna. The 
original six will remain together. " God be 
with you till we meet again." 

January 30, 1891. 



THE VOYAGERS. 



THE best time to sail is when you get ready, 
quoth the veteran sea-captain ; so we kept 
our appointment, and weighed anchor Jan- 
uary 31. 

Let us not fail to record, even at this dis- 
tance of time and place, that elegant supper, 
that congenial company, and those solemn 
prayers from which we set out. Col. Thomas 
D. Fite knows exactly how to mingle the 
social and the religious element. He also 
knows how to kiss his way, right and left, 
out of a palace-car when the time comes for 
all friends to leave. There is no duplicate 
of the Colonel. 

The sudden death of Secretary Windom 
was the sensation of the hour just as we 
pushed out from J^ew York. He had come 
up from Washington to the city of great din- 
ners to attend a banquet at Delmonico's, 
given by the Board of Trade and Transpor- 

(21) 



&& SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

tation. He had responded to the first toast 
by making- the speech of his life. He was 
dead in ten minutes thereafter— breathed his 
last while the applause of his countrymen 
died upon his ears. 

What avails all our learning on this French 
greyhound of the sea? Officers and crew, 
waiters and passengers speak the French 
language so rapidly that Ave are bewildered. 
"Wife was graduated from the " Old Acade- 
my," daughter has a B.A. degree from Dr. 
Price's, son was "trained" at Webb's, Miss 
Davis holds a diploma from Ward's, Miss 
Lester has studied French, Miss Hart was 
educated at Nazareth, Miss Jones at Greens- 
boro, N". C, and Dr. Bilbro has two degrees 
— and yet, here am I, with three degrees, 
promising handsome "tips" to an English 
boy if he will stay around our table and in- 
terpret for us. But we shall improve, espe- 
cially Miss Jones. She reads French with 
ease, and will soon learn to speak it. They 
report that Coleridge once thanked God 
publicly that he could not speak a word of 
such a language. We are not of his mind. 



THE VOYAGERS. 23 

One rarely ever crosses the sea without 
meeting some new man. (/apt. Schley this 
time. He and our Prof. Wharton were mem- 
bers of the same class at Annapolis. The 
Captain commands the ship "Baltimore," U. 
S. X. He gave us a thrilling account of his 
polar experience in search of Lieut. Greely 
and his crew. Capt. Schley is an " all-round- 
man " — talks with marvelous fluency on all 
subjects, from navigation to theology; and 
speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian, and 
what not. He is fond of music, games, and 
promenades. He does not dance. He be- 
lieves, with Cicero, that no man in his senses 
will dance. The Captain and his wife have 
proposed to show us some attention at Gi- 
braltar. 

Another new man — Benjamin Constant, 
the great French painter. He was pleased 
with "Jack," the boy who swept the prome- 
nade deck — made a rough sketch of him on 
canvas. The picture sold immediately for 
six hundred francs. Fame is valuable in 
several respects. 

Of course we had the usual concert on the 



24 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

night before our arrival in Havre. The pro- 
ceeds of all these entertainments are devoted 
to charitable purposes among seamen. On 
the Cunard line the money is given for the 
support of a sailor's hospital in Liverpool. 
On the French line it goes into the treasury 
of a life-saving society. On this occasion 
there was not a large company present, but 
their contributions amounted to 1,875 francs. 
The music was worth the money, for it was 
our singular privilege to hear a man singer 
who receives 2,000 francs a night in Paris. 
At the close an American lady made an ef- 
fort to get up a dance, but she found the 
company too intellectual and cultured for 
that. 

As our voyage was in the winter, we ex- 
pected storms, and were not disappointed. 
We had two— one on Tuesday night and an- 
other on Wednesday night. The great ship 
rolled and pitched and quivered from end 
to end. But we knew Him who manages the 
deep, and thought : 

This awful God is ours, 
Our Father and our love. 



THE VOYAGEBS. 25 

After an eight days' run we glided safely 
into the port of Havre, all well and eager to 
get another trip through sunny France. 

The road from Havre to Paris runs through 
a part of ancient Normandy. The conductor 
gave us thirty minutes at Rouen, where we 
walked the platform, and talked of "William 
the Conqueror, and especially how, in 10G6, 
he went over to England, won the battle of 
Hastings, and established the Norman dy- 
nasty. Since then all " my lords " of En- 
gland boast of pure Norman blood, and of an 
ancestry that came over with William's " fleet- 
load of thieves and pirates." 

Here we are in Paris, reading the Oalig- 
nani Messenger. From that veracious jour- 
nal we learn that " King Carnival " is dead, 
and that only his ghost appeared on the 
streets and in the Grand Opera House on 
the night before Lent. Itte mortuos est! 
Thank the Lord! 

This is Ash- Wednesday, the first day of 
Lent, and the British Parliament has re- 
solved to sit two hours longer than usual. 
In France the places of amusement are closed 



26 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

for forty clays; in England the Imperial Par- 
liament moves straight along with acceler- 
ated motion in the transaction of business. 
The Frenchman lays stress on trifles; the 
Englishman is always practical. " The one 
invented a ruffle; the other added a shirt." 

All the world has found out where we live. 
The Shah of Persia has resolved to make an- 
other tour. He will travel due east through 
India, across the Pacific, and from San Fran- 
cisco to New York (taking in the World's 
Fair). Surely the people of the " Windy 
City " will not presume to entertain the King 
of Persia and suite at a yankee hotel ! They 
must build and furnish a palace forthwith, 
and place it at his Majesty's disposal. Queen 
Victoria always gives him Buckingham when 
he visits her; and when he leaves, the royal 
abode has to be renovated from garret to cel- 
lar. "Thenausty Persians!" " They don't 
daunce well." 

A note to parents whose daughters are 
traveling with us: Your girls have learned 
the way to two places — Am oon marche and 
the Magasins <h< Lou ere. Women are said 



THE VOYAGEBS. 27 

to be fond of shopping. Look out for an ex- 
pense account. 

Our address for the next seven months 
will be Paris, France. Care of Thos. Cook 
& Son, Place de V Opera. 

Paris, February 12, 1891. 



"MY JOURNEY INTO SPAIN." 



TEN days in Paris, and we were off. Miss 
Ella Ford and her mother made our last 
hours in the fair city very happy. They in- 
vited sixteen Nashville people to "a tea." 
Among them were the queenly granddaugh- 
ter of Chancellor Garland and the rosy- 
cheeked children of Mr. Ben Wilson. I 
would advise " Ben " not to call his daugh- 
ters home, but to pick up their mother and 
come to Paris. The girls are anxious to see 
their parents, make a continental tour, and 
resume their studies. Miss Ford has ample 
quarters near the Arch of Triumph. 

Our last day in Paris was Sunday. The 
forenoon was spent listening to the music in 
Notre Dame Cathedral. In the afternoon I 
went to hear Pere Hyacinthe — of course 1 
did. Think of this great priest who once 
preached the lenten sermons in Notre Dame, 

with the royalty, nobility, and scholars of 

(28) 



"MT JO URNE Y INTO SPAIN. ' ' 29 

France in front of him, now occupying a 
plain church in an obscure portion of the 
city! But he differed with Pius IX., and 
that settled the matter. When I was here in 
1887, his congregation was not large. Kow 
it fills the nave and four galleries. Every 
aisle is packed with chairs, and every foot of 
standing-room is taken. I saw scores of men 
with great, cliff-like brows, beyond which 
there must have worked busy brains. Why 
not congregate here? If the hearing ear 
comes close to the speaking tongue, it need 
not travel any farther than Pere Hyacinthe's. 
lie is the prince of living orators. 

I met a man the other day who ought to 
have some notice. It was at the mouth of a 
church. He helped my wife into a carriage 
and looked at me as if making the usual de- 
mand. I offered, him half a franc, and he de- 
clined it pleasantly. The twin of this man 
does not live in all Europe. At the tomb of 
Napoleon a valet de place forced himself into 
our party and began to talk. More than 
once I ordered him to stop. The more I or- 
dered, the faster he "lectured." At the gate 



30 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

he demanded three francs. 1 refused. He 
threatened to call the police. We drove off 
to the Eiffel Tower, and left the fellow fairly 
raging over a two-franc piece. 

We left Paris on Monday evening, dusk, 
February 16. When our Spanish courier 
took charge of us at the Hotel du Louvre, I 
thought of St. Paul's words: " When I take 
my journey into Spain." We are going to 
the same Iberian Peninsula. A twenty-four 
hours' run brought us to Burgos, in the north 
of Spain, where I am writing this paragraph. 
We have had three meals on the way — the 
usual "coffee" at Bordeaux, luncheon at 
Iron, and dinner at Meiranda. We are spend- 
ing a night and a day at this place, resting, 
ki doing the town." and writing letters home. 
Of course we are across the Pyrenees. They 
are not so sublime as the Alps, or our own 
"Rockies," but the landscape is beautiful to 
the last degree. All the charms of nature are 
lavished on this romantic part of the King- 
dom of Castile. The Cathedral at Burgos is 
the first of the four ecclesiastical wonders 
that we are promised on this circular tour of 



" M Y JOUJRNE Y IS TO si'. I IS. ' ' 31 

Spain. We saw it at our leisure this morn- 
ing, under the guidance of the sacristan. 

Nobody is in a hurry down here. The 
Hidalgos wear their jaunty cloaks gracefully 
thrown oxer the left shoulder, and walk with 
stateliness; while beggars of every age, sex, 
and size swarm. The ladies protect their 
heads with the black mantilla, and the nur- 
sery maids wear snowy caps. They are all 
on the streets. At the eating stations the 
train stops from thirty minutes to an hour. 
The meal is served regularly in courses, with 
change of plates, knives, and forks. Wine 
flows, and smoke ascends from scores of ci- 
gars. It is now 8 o'clock, and I have 
rung four times for the morning lire. We 
get our coffee at nine. A French barber will 
shave you in five minutes; a Spaniard will 
fool and fondle around you for twenty-five. 

We have seen the Escorial, pronounced by 
Castilians "the eighth wonder of the world." 
I have never known when to quote from Phil- 
lips's description of Napoleon before. The 
palace is "grand, gloomy, and peculiar." It 
is located at the foot of snow-crowned mount- 



82 SKETCHY PAOES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

ains. about thirty miles north of Madrid, with 
bad lands between it and the city. It is 
built of granite, in the shape of a gridiron. 
Everybody has heard the reason why. The 
walls are seventeen feet thick and five stories 
high. The structure is so large that it re- 
quires 14,000 doors and 11,000 windows. It 
employed an army of skilled workmen 22 
years to finish it, at a cost of (i,000,000 Span- 
ish crowns. The money spent on internal 
furniture and ornamentation could have been 
furnished by no man on earth 330 years ago, 
except Philip II., King of Spain. Viewed us 
a palace, a monastery, and a mausoleum, the 
Escorial stands alone in the history of archi- 
tecture. We devoted the entire day to it, 
chaperoned by courier, castellan, and monk. 
A straggling village has grown up around it, 
whose population seems to be made up of 
soldiers, sisters, hotel-keepers, and beggars. 
I should like to give the reader a more par- 
ticular account of the Escorial if I had a 
" guide book," but there is not one in our 
traveling family. Every man who has read 
any thing knows that this palace was built 



" MY JOURNEY INTO SPAIN." 33 

when Spain was the richest kingdom in Eu- 
rope. Ship-loads of silver and gold were con- 
stantly arriving from her colonial posses- 
sions in Mexico and South America. "With 
untold wealth, an indomitable will, a gloomy 
disposition, and a vow to St. Lawrence for the 
victory of St. Quentin, we are not surprised 
that Philip created this wonderful palace. If 
the reader wishes to know any thing more, 1 
refer him to " Souvenirs of Travel," two vol- 
umes, by Madame Octavia Walton Le Vert. 
By this means of acquiring information, he 
will have some delightful employment and 
save his money. 

We are spending a week in the Spanish 
capital. Our young people are sending let- 
ters home and writing up their journals. 
They are all vigorous travelers and eager 
sight-seers. They lack neither appetite, 
health, nor humor. 

Madrid is rich and gay. I have seen Cen- 
tral Park, in ]\ T ew York; Hyde Park, London ; 
the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, each in " the 
height of the season; " but never have I seen, 
in one afternoon, so many splendid turn-outs 



34: SKETCHY PAGES OF FOEBIGN TRAVEL. 

as we .saw in the Prado to-day. All the 
grandees of the capital seemed to be airing 
themselves. The descriptions we have read 
of their equipages are all true. We make an 
excursion to Toledo next week, and then re- 
turn to the capital. I may write something 
more. 

Please tell the assistant Agent that I have 
not seen an Advocate since January 26. I 
must hear from the Tennessee brethren. Of 
course they are living up to the New Testa- 
ment standard, and the God of love and peace 
is abiding with them. But I want to hear 
from them. Send me the Christian Advocate 
AVe have had no rain since we left the At- 
lantic. The climate is delightful. 

Madrid, February 21, 1891. 



MADRID. 



WHAT of Madrid? The name is from a 
Moorish word, signifying- a " current 
of air." It is certainly high and dry, and 
under the dominion of the winds. 

As a town the origin of Madrid is prehis- 
toric : as a place of royal abode it dates back 
only to Charles V.; as a capital to Philip 
II., who, in 1560, declared it the only court 
of the realm. While the kingdom of Spain 
has a population of 20,000,000, its capital 
city does not contain over 400,000 souls. It 
has no environs, except bad lands poorly 
cultivated. 

On our arrival our courier quartered us at 
the Hotel de Russia. Here we have the best 
apartments ever offered us on this side. The 
food reminds me of the Palace Hotel in San- 
ta Fe, New Mexico. That is kept by the 
descendants of these Madrilenos. Wife's 

olfactories are more troublesome than mine. 

(35) 



36 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

The servants are polite, obsequious, and slow. 
Fuel scarce. Lights dim. 

Tourists usually go to the Royal Picture 
Gallery first, and devote one whole day to it 
— simply because it is the largest one on 
earth. Besides thousands of others, it con- 
tains the following numbers from the great 
masters, namely: Rubens, 62; Teniers, 53; 
Raphael, 10; Murillo, 46; Velasquez, 64; 
Tan Dyck, 22; Titian, 42; Tintoretto, 34; 
Veronese, 25; Poussin, 19; and Claude, 10. 

The next day we adopted our old plan, tak- 
ing two open carriages and driving six hours. 
This afforded a general view of the churches, 
palaces, monuments, schools, libraries, indus- 
trial institutions, legislative halls, driving- 
parks, and the rest of Madrid. The Madril- 
enos seem to be like the ancient Atheni- 
ans: fond of sunshine and the latest news. 
From all I can see and hear, I judge that ab- 
solutism is forever dead in Spain. I can 
praise the American government as much as 
I please here. 

Spain is a country where the Protestant 
religion has never been able to live. Pleas- 



MADRID. 37 

lire, business, and labor are as manifest on 
the Lord's day as on any other day. On the 
way to three churches on Sunday, the En- 
glish office of Thomas Cook & Son was the 
only place closed. The first place of wor- 
ship I attended was one of the oldest in 
Madrid, ornamented with the rich carvings 
and furniture of the middle ages. Early 
mass was well attended by poor people. One 
old woman, having communed, came down 
the center aisle with a huge market-basket 
on her arm. About midway she interrupted 
a devotee for about one minute. The inter- 
view resulted in the loan of some market- 
money. In the second church a number of 
schools (male and female) came in. A fine, 
black-headed boy read some part of the serv- 
ice. The music was glorious. At the third 
church I heard a sermon. So now I have 
completed the list. In each Catholic coun- 
try of Europe I have heard a priest, in his 
own language, deliver a sermon. They never 
preach from the great altar, but from a side 
pulpit. Xo Bible lies before them as with 
Protestants. They skip " thus saith the 



38 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Lord." They prefer " thus saith the Church." 
That is where all the ruin comes in to any 
body of Christians. For years I have felt 
perfectly impious whenever told of Church 
requirements, if they are not exactly in ac- 
cordance with the letter or the broad and 
loving spirit of the 2s ew Testament. Do 
you quite understand me? lint let me get 
back to these Komish priests. Their sermons 
are extemporaneous, and do not last over thir- 
ty minutes. They speak with great delibera- 
tion, and at the end of each paragraph pause 
longer than we do. They gesture too much. 

The day on which I attended all these 
churches was bright and warm. The beg- 
gars were out in force. Women were sitting 
flat on the dark, dry sand. One young, ema- 
ciated creature had a baby in her arms. That 
brought my %)esetas to the light. There I 
stood, and thought of the world-wide differ- 
ence in condition between this Spanish baby 
and my darling grandchild out at the Kirk- 
patrick mansion in Nashville, and for little 
"Anna Hunter's " sake I gave the charity. 

We have "permits" for the national pal- 



MADRID. 39 

ace, where the buy king-, Alphonso XII J., 
and his Austrian mother live. We propose 
to use these passes to-morrow; but as the 
royal family are " in residence " we cannot 
hope to see much beyond the throne room, 
library, armory, state carriages, and the like. 
This palace is built upon the spot where the 
Moors first erected their Alcazar. It was 
the enterprise of Philip Y., who resolved to 
rival that of Louis XIV., at Versailles. The 
material of the vast structure is white gran- 
ite from Colmenar. 

The visit has been made, and we saw more 
than we expected — even the queen and the 
little royalties. One of them, the boy, unites 
two of the oldest and highest houses of Eu- 
rope — the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons. I 
hope this youngster may live and prosper. 
There was trouble enough about him before 
he Avas born. (See Henry M. Field.) This 
item will appear quite unimportant to all 
those who have not read, the touching story 
of his young mother, who stood before the 
Spanish Cortes, and took the oath of regency 
for the unborn child. 



40 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Yesterday, bright and early, we went to 
Toledo. The farmers and gardeners were all 
out and busy with their spring work. Their 
land is not rich like the Netherlands. Toledo 
is a quaint, old, walled city. Old, did I say? 
If you should believe their chroniclers, the 
foundation of the town was laid about the 
time Adam and Eve made their appearance 
in the garden of Eden. The Alcazar is worth 
seeing. This vast stone palace was built by 
the Moors during the eight hundred years of 
their supremacy in Spain. It is well known 
that during that period they were the best 
educated and most highly cultured people in 
the world. The architecture of the Alcazar 
is one of the proofs. AVe saw two hundred 
workmen engaged in its restoration. Toledo 
is the seat of an archbishop. Its cathedral 
is the second of those four magnificent houses 
of worship of which all travelers write. The 
contents of the room containing the altar 
cloths and vestments, if sold at their nomi- 
nal value, would build John Hall's church in 
N"ew York. The swords made at Toledo are 
as celebrated as those of Damascus. All 



MADRID. 41 

military men are loud in their praise of tole- 
dos. The hospitable captain of Greenland 
and the gallant colonel of High Street wear 
no swords; but, after our return, they shall 
have the pleasure of dispensing turkey from 
the point of a Toledo carving-hnife. We re- 
turned to Madrid by the light of a full moon, 
and, as we approached the brilliantly illumi- 
nated city, thought of our future abode, and 
sung Philip Phillips 1 * favorite song. 

The mule is a popular animal here. Thev 
drive an omnibus with three abreast. They 
pull a heavy wagon with six in a row. Sol- 
diers in gay uniform ride them. Even the 
queen's state carriage is drawn by four of 
these dashing hybrids. Wife wants a min- 
iature donkey for our granddaughter's baby 
wagon, etc. 

This country has had about six epochs — 
Iberian, Carthaginian, Roman, Gothic, Moor- 
ish, and Spanish. TVe shall take a stroll 
through the Biblioteca this afternoon, and 
glance at the curiosities, coins, books, and 
manuscripts of all these peoples. Then we 
leave for Seville, in the extreme South; hope 



42 SKETCHY PACKS OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

the weather will be warmer in Andalusia. It 
is now 11 o'clock in the morning, February 
25, and I am finishing this letter in the 
warmth of a good fire. We are well. 
Madrid, February 25, 1891. 



SEVILLE. 

He who lias not at Seville been, 
Has not, I trow, a wonder seen. 

PAIR Andalusia! We entered the extreme 
southern province of Spain last Thursday 
morning. We had been running the live- 
long night almost due south from Madrid, 
when we were aroused for a six-o'clock 
breakfast at Cordova. From there to Seville 
we noticed on all sides olive groves, orange 
orchards, cactus hedges, and palm-trees — all 
semi-tropical. This is the country where the 
Moors delighted to live, and which, for eight 
hundred years, they made flourish like a par- 
adise. The country is level as a prairie, in a 
high state of cultivation, and dotted with 
charming white villages. It is watered by 
the Guadalquivir and its tributaries. We 
shall need no more fires, shawls, or cloaks 
while we are in this region. 

A city founded by the Phenicians before 

(43) 



44 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRA VEL. 

Romulus and Remus were born, encircled 
with walls built by Julius Caesar, and where 
the Emperors Trajan and Theodosius were 
born, may well claim to be one of the oldest 
cities in Europe. Such is Seville; and yet 
it is in as perfect " repair " as Paris, and fully 
as clean. We are in the heart of the city, at 
the Hotel de Paris, on the Plaza del Pacifico. 
The great square where the Cathedral now 
stands has always been occupied for religious 
purposes: first, a heathen temple; then, in 
the early days of Christianity, a church; in 
the year 1163 the Mohammedan Abu Yousef 
erected on the spot a noble mosque, which 
was pulled down two hundred years after- 
ward. The present vast Gothic structure 
then arose. The Chapter of the Cathedral 
assembled in July, 1401, decided on erecting 
a church " so large and beautiful that coming 
ages may proclaim us mad to have under- 
taken it." They certainly succeeded. To 
give you an idea of its size, I ma} r mention 
that a small space on the inside is given up 
for an orange orchard, covering an acre or 
two of ground. The present bell-tower, Gi- 



SEVILLE. 45 

ralda, is the minaret of the ancient mosque. 
We were all on the top of it this afternoon, 
feasting our eyes on the plains of Andalusia 
and the winding course of the Guadalquivir. 
There are some interesting things to be seen 
in the interior: original letters of Christo- 
pher Columbus, written with bold and graph- 
ic hand, the massive silver tomb of his son, 
Ferdinand, etc. ^Ve noticed a number of 
families amply and comfortably quartered in 
the various stories of the bell-tower. They 
are not disciples of Malthus either, but be- 
lieve in the divine command — judging from 
the number of cradles and children visible. 
Talk of " high livers! " Here they are, " liv- 
ing higher " than those who dwell on the top 
of St. Peter's, at Rome. (See "Twenty 
Thousand Miles.") 

Near by is the gorgeous Alcazar, covering 
many acres of ground. This is a palace built 
by the Moorish kings in the days of their re- 
finement, wealth, and power, when their ar- 
chitects were as famous as their scholars. It 
is in as good condition to-day as it was when 
the Moors left it, for after their final expul- 



46 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

sion, 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella restored 
and beautified the roval residence for their 
own occupancy. It was still further embel- 
lished by Charles V. on the occasion of his 
marriage to Isabel of Portugal. I am glad 
we have seen this perfect specimen of the 
Arabesque, with its gardens, and labyrinths, 
and kiosks, and pavilions, and grottoes, baths, 
lakes, Xeptunes, tritons, under-ground fount- 
ains, and all else, before we wander next 
week amid the ruins of Alhambra. It is dif- 
ficult to keep our young people away from 
the Alcazar. They never dreamed of such a 
human abode. I have not heard of Louvre, 
or Luxembourg, or Palais Royal, or Escorial, 
or even Queen Christina's marble home since 
they saw this royal establishment. They 
will be reading "Washington Irving," and 
such like, until they — get married. Let us 
hope that they may select men of culture and 
refinement, who will lay out some money on 
books, and encourage them to read on. 

I brought them down from these elegant 
altitudes this morning, when I put them on a 
tram-way and carried them out to the Fabrica 



SEVILLE. 47 

de Tabacos. There they saw 3,000 poor 
women and girls making cigars and cigar- 
ettes. While they worked with flying fin- 
gers they chattered like so many Spanish 
magpies. The building in which they assem- 
bled is a vast government structure, sur- 
rounded by a moat and exceedingly pleasant 
gardens. A man who can smoke a cigar 
after seeing one made is like myself: he can 
stand any thing. I think I said, not long 
ago, that Spaniards do not hurry. Here are 
these laboring-women, who can barely earn 
one pesata (20 cents) in a whole day, coming 
to their tasks at 11 o'clock. We arrived at 
10 o'clock, to see them coming in from all 
quarters, leading children, carrying lunch- 
baskets, babies, and various impedimenta. 
One lively, little, black-headed Senora had a 
pair of twins — one in each arm. Away went 
wife's coppers! 

After all this, we were in proper frame of 
mind to take two open carriages and drive 
through the Alameda and Las Delicias, to 
visit the University, the House of Pilate, and 
the palace of Duke de Montpensier. Thus 



48 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

we have passed the week in this bright old 
town. 

Fair is proud Seville; let her country boast 

Her strength, her wealth, her site of ancient days. 

We did not cross the river to see Triana, 
where the gypsies live, or to explore the ruins 
of Italica, a city founded by Scipio Africa- 
nus. 

Later. This is the Lord's day, and I am 
just in from Church. Forasmuch as I never 
could learn, in a Romish Church, where the 
apostolic ceremonies end and the pagan cer- 
emonies begin, I thought it safest to abstract 
myself, and engage in mental devotion; pray- 
ing to the Father, in the name of Christ, to 
direct me in all things by the light of the 
Holy Spirit. I am candid enough to admit 
that this is nearly all the religious direction I 
want from any source. The only theological 
book that ever suited me exactly is the New 
Testament. That I accept without hesita- 
tion. Such works as Calvin's " Institutes " 
have done the cause of true religion more harm 
than all the infidel literature from Porphyry 
and Celsus down to Ingersoll. Nobody be- 



SEVILLE. 49 

lieves in Calvin's God to-day. The old-timers 
are all dead. I knew the last one. His name 
was Andrew Vance. I once heard this dear 
old fatalist talking to a dying' parishioner on 
the blessings of "election." What of the 
doom of "reprobates?" thought I. Dear 
Presbyterian friends, give us a revised Con- 
fession of Faith that magnifies the love of 
God, even if you have to put it in a "foot- 
note." 

I read with pleasure, from the London 
Times, that great interest has been aroused 
by the arrangements which have been made 
for the celebration of the Centenary of John 
Wesley's death, at City Road Chapel, on 
March 2, and the following days of the week. 
The Wesley Statue will be unveiled by the 
President of the Wesleyan Conference, the 
Rev. Dr. Moulton, at 11 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of March 2. This ceremony will be fol- 
lowed by a public meeting in the City Road 
Chapel, to be addressed by Archdeacon Far- 
rar and several representative Wesleyan 
ministers and laymen. At 3 o'clock the Rev. 
Dr. Moulton will deliver the Centenary Ser- 



50 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TEA VEL. 

mon. In the evening a public meeting will 
be held, to be addressed by the Presidents of 
the different Methodist Conferences in Great 
Britain and the Vice-president of the Irish 
Conference. On each succeeding day of the 
week, excepting Saturday, a sermon will be 
preached at 3 o'clock p.m. by a representa- 
tive of one of the other Non-conformist bod- 
ies, and a public meeting will be held in the 
evening. Dr. Dale, of Birmingham, will be 
the Congregational preacher; Dr. Clifford 
will preach as a representative of the Bap- 
tists; and Principal Rainey as a representa- 
tive of the Free Church of Scotland. This 
Centenary will also be marked by the publi- 
cation of several volumes by the Wesley an 
Book-room, bearing on the life and work of 
John Wesley and the growth of the Method- 
ist movement. 

Times have changed since March 2, 1791. 
"What hath God wrought! " 

Seville, March 1, 1891. 



THE ALHAMBRA AND THE MOSQU E. 



THIS opening sentence is written in the 
Alhambra — in the room where Washinar- 
ton Irving registered in 1829. Hither came 
he in the suite of some titled gentleman in 
those days. The names of the aristocratic 
people have passed into oblivion; the man 
of genius is known the world over. " Ever 
thus." 

In a few days after the arrival of Mr. 
Irving, the Governor of the old palace va- 
cated his apartments, and tendered them to 
the quiet stranger. Here he indulged in 
those reveries and engaged in those re- 
searches that resulted in that charming book, 
"The Alhambra." Who has not read it? 
Venders of articles hereabouts will offer 
you an edition of it in any language you 
may chance to speak or read. I saw three 
translations. They offered us an American 

edition, supposing, of course, that we spoke 

(51) 



52 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

a language differing from all others. There 
are three apartments in the Alhambra that 
were occupied by Mr. Irving: a library, a 
bed-room, and a dining-room. Here he not 
only wrote " The Alhambra," which has made 
the place known to the world, but I dare say, 
formed plans for the " Conquest of Granada," 
and "Mohammed and His Successors," and 
gathered the materials for those books. I 
can conceive of no better spot in Spain for 
the study of the romance, legends, traditions, 
and history of this wonderful country. 

When Ave were at Stratford-upon-Avon, 
years ago, we stopped at the Red -horse 
Hotel. It had a room in it filled with sou- 
venirs of Washington Irving. Here we are 
at a hotel bearing his name. It is so full of 
American tourists that my traveling family 
is scattered about in rooms on the second 
and third floors. Two old gentlemen from 
New York have big incomes at home and 
sprightly young brides with them. The 
brides read the guide books, and then tell 
their venerable husbands about places and 
events. " Who was Boabdil?" quoth one. 



THE ALHAMBRA AND THE MOSQUE. 53 

" The last prince of the Moorish Dominion 
in Spain,'' replied she, etc. The man from 
Baltimore knows exactly where he is and 
what he wants to see. The college professor 
has done Enrope by the inch, and knows 
every thing. The California gentleman wants 
the names of the good hotels in Seville and 
Madrid. "Many men of many minds," was 
onr first copy. But the most amusing man 
is the uneducated and unread foreign trav- 
eler. " What is the difference between 
a mosque and a cathedral?" queried one 
to-day. " A mosque is a Mohammedan 
temple; a cathedral is used for the worship 
of Christ," 

Granada is a large and interesting city — 
capital of the province of the same name — 
with a long and marvelous history. It is in 
the extreme South, with nothing between it 
and the Mediterranean Sea but the Sierra 
Nevadas. Their tops are covered with per- 
petual snow, and, forasmuch as most of the 
rooms in the Washington Irving Hotel are 
without fire-places, we are here entirely too 
early for comfort. When you ask about any 



54 SKETCHY PAGE8 OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

manner or custom here, the invariable reply 
is, cosas de JEspana. We have concluded 
that it is the custom of Granada to be with- 
out fuel. 

This place was greatly favored by Ferdi- 
nand and Isabella, whose armies drove the 
last Moors out. Here they built the Royal 
Chapel, which is now their mausoleum. They 
rest side by side. In their day a new world 
was added to the dominions of Spain, to 
be lost nearly four hundred years there- 
after by another Ferdinand. The sacristan 
shows you a golden casket, which contained 
the jewels pawned by Isabella to raise money 
for the expedition of Columbus. Some wom- 
en know what to do with jewels. 

The Alhambra has always been the royal 
abode of Granada. It is a palace, or rather 
a congeries of palaces, commenced by the 
Moorish kings, and finished, or disfigured, 
by Charles V. It covers many acres on a 
precipitous height overlooking the city. It 
it mostly in ruins. Some parts of it have 
been beautifully restored. The architecture 
is Saracenic, with infinite details and hide- 



THE ALHAMBRA AND THE MOSQUE. 55 

scribable beauty. But the gardens, towers, 
fountains, pavilions, grottoes, over-ground 
and under-ground water-falls are more won- 
derful than the buildings. There is no other 
such ruin in the world. I am saving the 
whole subject for a lecture when I return. 

Was there ever a people so leisure-loving 
and pleasure-loving as the inhabitants of 
Spain? Each man seems to be enjoying his 
dolce far niente, so that when he is old he 
holds out his hat for charity. Well, it is 
" cosas de Espana." The most restless creat- 
ure in the world is an American on a Span- 
ish train. We started from Granada to Cor- 
dova early in the morning, and arrived late 
at night. The distance is about one hun- 
dred miles. Wonder if one man ever " cred- 
its " another in this country? He would 
have the pleasure of scheduling his out- 
standing accounts in his will. I requested 
a landlord to make out my bill each day and 
send it to the lunch-table. He hesitated, 
but finally agreed to do so if I would pay 
for the government stamp (ten centimes). He 
kept it up two days, and after that neglected 



56 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

it. He reminded me of the Nashville man, 
who was opposed to " settlements," even if 
the money was coming to him. 

What shall I write of Cordova? It cer- 
tainly contains a mosque which is the largest 
place of worship ever erected in honor of the 
only true God. It was built by Abdurrah- 
man I., and was converted into a Christian 
church by Charles "V. We have been wan- 
dering through it all morning, and feel too 
much wearied to write about it in detail. 
The founder resolved to erect a structure 
that should rival the Kaaba of Mecca in ho- 
liness, and the great mosques of Damascus 
and Bagdad in size. Our courier, Mr. Yo- 
lonte, has seen the one in Damascus, and 
tells us that this surpasses it in every re- 
spect. The priests were conducting the 
morning service when we entered. The 
music that sighed, and wailed, and rolled 
throuofh the vast inclosure seemed to come 
from the upper and heavenly choir — now 
loud, as from numbers without number, and 
then sweet, as from angelic voices uttering 
happiness and joy. O may we all finally meet 



THE ALHAMBRA AND THE MOSQUE. 57 

in the great temple along whose aisles God's 
footsteps are ever heard! 

As this letter is made up of hurry graphs, 
you will allow me to close it with something 
better. On entering this place Mrs. Le Vert 
exclaimed: "And this moldering and crum- 
bling city is Cordova! Cordova the learned 
and the wise; Cordova, so prosperous under 
the Carthaginians, and so famous under the 
Romans — the native city of the philosopher, 
Seneca, and the poet, Lucan; the city which 
gave to Rome her bravest soldiers, and which 
clung the longest to the fortunes of Pompey! 
After the Romans came the Gothic rule, and 
then the Moorish dominion, when Cordova 
was spread over these plains, and one million 
was the number of its inhabitants. While 
nearly all the rest of Europe was engaged in 
frightful wars, literature, the sciences, and 
the fine arts flourished in this favored city. 
Within the mosque is a forest of hundreds 
and hundreds of pillars and columns of mar- 
ble, of jasper, of porphyry, brought, many 
of them, from the ruins of Carthage, from 
Asia Minor, and even from Rome. There is 



58 SKETCHY /'AGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

a perfect labyrinth of these pillars, while far 
above is the delicate tracery of the roof, al- 
most like the foliage of trees." Cordova has 
been repaired since Madame Le Vert's day. 
Cordova, March 6, 1891. 



RtTNTXIXG OUT OF SPAIN. 



OX our last morning in Cordova we strolled 
across the old Roman bridge to admire 
the massiveness of Caesar's architecture, and 
thence through the immense mosque to hear 
the music float. Our young people are al- 
ways ready for a ramble, for the tram-cars 
and carriages, or a sail on the waters. Mean- 
while, each one journalizes every thing. It 
was from a journal like one of these that a 
very popular book of travels was produced 
about three years ago. Good luck to Lena- 
may! 

On the long run from Cordova to Valencia, 
by the way of Alcazar and Albacette, we 
were compelled to infringe on the Lord's 
time until breakfast Sunday morning. We 
have never done so before; may we never be 
compelled to repeat it! The people were at 
work just as usual. Women were washing 

clothes, boys tending the flocks and herds, 

(59) 



60 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

men planting and plowing-, teamsters haul- 
ing, and mechanics building houses. All 
this grows out of the teachings of Roman 
Catholicism. Such a development of the re- 
ligion of the " holy, harmless, and undefiled " 
Christ! 

Spain is an undulating country; every- 
where mountains, or hills, are in sight. Still 
there are vast areas of cultivable land. It 
looks somewhat poor and dry now. We 
have had one shower in thirty da} r s. The 
olive is the great wealth of the southern por- 
tion, and there seem to be oranges enough 
to supply " the rest of mankind." All trav- 
elers write of the fine horses of Andalusia; 
we saw none. 

We spent two days in Valencia at a very 
pleasant hotel. They say over here that (i in 
America the traveler has to please the hotel; 
in Europe the hotel must please the trav- 
eler." There is some little ground for such 
a remark. 

Valencia has been called the Sultana of 
Spanish cities. We saw nothing remarkably 
queenly about the place. It is a flourishing 



RUNNING OUT OF SPAIN. 61 

commercial town on the shores of the Medi- 
terranean, with the usual narrow, winding 
streets and suburban drives. The Spanish 
gentleman must have three things — his cloak, 
his opera box, and his drive. Without these 
he is nobody. He may sleep in a back room, 
and live on broth, or at a soup-house; but if 
he can purchase these three luxuries he holds 
his social position — maintains his rank. 

The history of the Province of Valencia is 
that of its capital — Carthaginians, Romans, 
Goths, and Moors have, in succession, pos- 
sessed this fair land; and although it derived 
benefit from each, it is especially indebted to 
the Moor, who loved it, and lavished on it his 
gold and blood. Under the Moslem rule 
Valencia became the garden of Spain, and 
here the Moors placed their paradise. They 
called it " The Country of Mirth." The Cid, 
the great hero of the Spanish historical ro- 
mance, wound up his career at Valencia. We 
saw his bones at Burgos. May be they were. 

Thence due north to Tarragona. The rail- 
road runs right along the shores of the Med- 
iterranean Sea. In some places a tidal wave 



62 SKETCHY PACES OF FORfflGN TRAVEL. 

would overflow the track. Tarragona is ad- 
mirably situated on a limestone rock, 800 feet 
high, and sloping to the sea. The climate is 
delicious, genial, and so wholesome at all 
times that the Roman Praetor used to make 
it his winter residence. But Roman remains 
here are considered modern. On the way to 
the Cathedral, in the picturesque Plaza, you 
may drink water from the ancient Phoenician 
well. Carthaginian " antiquities " are abund- 
ant. The Cathedral of Tarragona is a sort 
of Escorial, and contains the ashes, lately re- 
moved from Problet, of several mighty kings 
and queens of Aragon. Sculpture has not 
been despised or neglected in Spain, as mon- 
uments and statues frequently attest. 

I fancy the reader ready to exclaim: " Will 
they never get away from the Romans?" 
Never, until we enter the dominions of the 
Tsar, or skim around through the Scandina- 
vian Peninsula. The Romans encircled the 
Mediterranean Sea. Some day it will be dif- 
ficult to get away from the English and 
Americans. 

If you are in search of a "queenly" city, 



RUNNING OUT OF SPAIN. 63 

come to Barcelona. It is the largest city in 
Spain, and by far the most beautiful. The 
Hotel of the Four Nations is unsurpassed in 
Europe. Barcelona was founded by Haniil- 
car 237 years before Christ, and is so favor- 
ably situated that it has never gone to decay. 
Ataulphus, the first king of the Goths, chose 
it as his court, and made it the capital of His- 
pana-Gothia. While Toledo is the Pompeii 
of Spain, this commercial emporium is solid 
as Glasgow. 

When the Modern Language Association 
met in Nashville, one of its members referred 
to his two years' study in Barcelona. This 
remark attracted our attention to the uni- 
versity. It is a conspicuous pile of buildings 
of quasi- Byzantine character, dating from 
1873. While leaving much to be desired in 
the way of curriculum, this is, perhaps, the 
most advanced of all Spanish universities. 
The institution contains a staff of really en- 
lightened professors, 2,500 students, and a 
library of 200,000 volumes. There are over 
eighty primary schools attached to it. Would 
not Vanderbilt rejoice over eighty such train- 



64 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

ing schools as the Webbs'? When we drove 
up in front of the university this morning, it 
was about 11 o'clock. There stood hundreds 
of plainly dressed young men waiting for the 
professors to appear. They have no use for 
early hours here, except to lie in bed. 

We have at last seen a monument to Chris- 
topher Columbus worthy of his name. It 
stands on the wharf of Barcelona, the right 
hand of the figure pointing to America. We 
thought it surpassed kelson's Pillar on Tra- 
falgar Square. 

On quitting Barcelona, in July, 1844, Wash- 
ington Irving gave his opinion of the city 
thus : " I leave this beautiful city with regret. 
Indeed, one enjoys the very poetry of exist- 
ence in these soft Southern climates which 
border on the Mediterranean. All here is 
picture and romance. Nothing has given 
me greater delight than occasional evening 
drives with some of my diplomatic colleagues 
to those county seats, or torres, as they are 
called, situated on the slopes of hills, two or 
three miles from the city, surrounded by 
groves of oranges, citrons, figs, pomegran- 



SUNNING OUT OF SPAIN. 65 

ates, etc., with terraced gardens gay with 
flowers and fountains. Here we would sit 
on the lofty terraces overlooking the rich and 
varied plain, the distant city gilded by the 
setting sun, and the blue sea beyond. Noth- 
ing can be purer and softer and sweeter than 
the evening air inhaled in these favored re- 
treats." All our opinions agree with Mr. 
Irving. To-day, when I mentioned our early 
departure for Marseilles, I thought there 
would be a mutiny among the youngsters. 

No country on earth, except Egypt and 
Syria, has ever interested and instructed me 
like Spain. But there will be no more let- 
ters. There may be none from Italy, Aus- 
tria, Switzerland, or Germany. I visited 
those countries in 1886-87, and wrote my 
observations then. (Read " Twenty Thou- 
sand Miles.") 

Letters are beginning to reach us, but no 
newspapers yet. Kind regards and best 
wishes. 

Barcelona, March 12, 1891. 



A CONNECTING LINK. 



FORASMUCH as we are on our way from 
Spain to Russia, it may be well enough 
to supply a connecting link in the form of a 
diary. 

March 12. — Our train is running along 
the shores of the Mediterranean. " Sunny 
France" indeed! We can see leagues of 
snow on the mountains to the left. The 
winter has been awfully severe in Europe, 
and it still lingers. We see the women at 
work in the fields. The army of Spain is 
large enough to preserve order at home. The 
standing army of France is the largest on 
earth. The able - bodied Frenchmen are 
there. It was dark when we reached Mar- 
seilles. We shall remain in this stately old 
city four or five days. We need rest and 
the services of a laundry maid. Did not the 
letters from home pour in upon us this even- 
ing! We are all happy. I am glad Dr. 
(66) 



A CONNECTING LINK. 67 

Er win's meeting resulted so gloriously, lie 
and Blanton are invincible. 

March 14. — A new French general lias 
just arrived and taken command of the 
troops stationed at this place. He reviewed 
them this morning, while a steady rain came 
down on their gay uniforms. The column 
reached from our hotel out to the railroad 
station. A French soldier wears a bright- 
red cap with the number of his regiment 
glittering in front of it. He wears a deep- 
blue coat with red shoulder straps and cuffs. 
His baggy trowsers are red likewise; boots 
black; gloves white. Taken altogether he 
is a fiery-looking individual, but the German 
manages to whip him. 

March 15. — All things come to those who 
wait. We have been waiting nearly two 
months for the privilege of entering a Prot- 
estant church. It was offered us to-day, and 
we all enjoyed it. " How sweet to the soul 
is communion with saints! " There are 
many Protestants in the south of France: 
at Montpelier, at Nimes, at Aries, at Avig- 
non, and here at Marseilles, descendants of 



68 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

the old Huguenots. The service was con- 
ducted by Rev. Mr. Skeggs, of Oxford. 
Like all Englishmen, he gave ample time to 
it. We have attended English Churches in 
America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in 
all places they required a full hour and a 
half. Why not? They read long scriptures, 
and sing hymns " clear through." They go 
through the Commandments and all the 
creeds. The clergyman to - day not only 
prayed for the queen, the Prince of Wales, 
the royal family, Parliament, bishops and 
other clergy, army and navy, all sorts and 
conditions of men, health, wealth, and long- 
life, and else; but he even included the Pres- 
ident of the United States, and Mr. Carnot, 
who presides over the French Republic. T do 
not know whether the gentleman can preach 
or not. He read a capital exegesis, sixteen 
pages in length, wherein he clearly main- 
tained the supreme divinity of our Lord. 
You can always trust an English Church- 
man on the text: "Before Abraham was I 
am." In America it is safest to wait until 
you hear him, especially in ~New England. 



A CONNECTING LINK. 69 

(After our quiet family prayers we shall 
sleep well.) 

March 17. — We are on the " Reviera 
Route " — that picturesque and romantic 
country bordering on the sea, from Mar- 
seilles to Genoa. The great earthquake of 
1887 shook this region terribly. The towns 
are all winter resorts for the grandees of the 
north of Europe, and they are indescribably 
beautiful. Architecture, art, and landscape 
gardening have done their best work along 
here. Napoleon I. connected his name with 
Toulon. Queen Victoria spends a part of 
her winters at Cannes. Mr. Spurgeon comes 
to Mentone. The German royalties are par- 
tial to San Remo. All the gamblers flock 
to Monte Carlo. Tourists generally stop at 
Nice (pronounced JS'ees). An elderly man 
must not walk on stilts. I must not attempt 
a description of the palaces, chateaus, cot- 
tages, promenades, and sylvan solitudes of 
this place. A rain-storm is raging just now. 
The clouds are inky black. The tempestu- 
ous heavens pour down torrents. The thun- 
ders roll along the shores and far over the 



70 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

billowy sea. But we are comfortably housed, 
and Nice will be bright again to-morrow. 

March 20. — We have completed the Ke- 
viera, and are literally " basking in the sun- 
shine " of Pisa. Even in Italy there never 
was a more beautiful day. While the young* 
people were climbing the Leaning Tower, 
and doing other duties of travel, I sat on the 
steps of the cathedral. A carriage drove up, 
such as I had never seen outside of royal 
stables. When the service closed, I ex- 
pected the king and queen of this realm to 
enter it, when lo! a red-capped cardinal ap- 
peared. He and the attendant bishops filled 
the gorgeous conveyance. If the President 
of the United States were to attend church 
with such an array of horses, harness, driv- 
ers, and liveried footmen, no political party 
or combination on earth could re-elect him. 
Martin Van Buren tried certain showy ways 
while he occupied the White House. The 
halls of Congress rang with glowing descrip- 
tions of them. The newspapers teemed with 
ridicule. He was defeated. 

March 22. — There are five cities in the 



A CONNECTING LINK. 71 

world that are called "holy:" Benares, for 
the Hindoos; Mecca, for the Mohammedans; 
Jerusalem, for the Jews; Moscow, for the 
Greek Church in Russia; and Home, for all 
good Catholics. To each of these places dev- 
otees make pilgrimages at certain seasons. 
We are in Rome not as pilgrims, but accord- 
ing to a schedule of travel made out in Amer- 
ica. This is "Holy Week." All nations, 
tongues, kindreds, and people are represented 
here. An archbishop from Madras appeared 
the other day. The most gracefully robed 
functionary I have seen is a Chinaman. The 
little fellow from Tonquin comes next. The 
city is full. Resources of public comfort 
are exhausted. Every hotel and -peMsion is 
packed. The place where we are stopping- 
is so crowded that the Americans have been 
offered a private dining-room without the 
usual " supplementary price." So the Hotel 
D'Allemague has forced us to be "elegant." 
We have been writing and telegraphing for 
one week before our rooms were secured. 

"Hail, holy Rome!" exclaimed a German 
pilgrim about the year 1510. His name was 



72 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Martin Luther. Before he quitted the place 
those thoughts entered his mind which result- 
ed in the Protestant Reformation. To-day 
is Sunday. I went in search of a Protestant 
Church. There are many here. After get- 
ting lost several times, I called a cabman 
and succeeded. The house was large and 
comfortable, and was filled with devout 
worshipers. The service was altogether ed- 
ifying. On the way home I noticed that 
offices and places of business were open as 
usual. The military bands were in full blast, 
cavalry prancing and soldiers marching. 
Carriage' wheels glittered on every street, 
and the lovers of pleasure were all afloat. 
" Hail, holy Rome! " Your saints have man- 
aged to skip all the Commandments to-day: 
Palm-Sunday. In the evening we heard 
vespers in St. Peter's. 2so instrumental 
music. Only singing. Italy is the land of 
song. 

Next Sunday is Easter day. Five days in 
advance, I offer this prediction: After all 
the solemn and pompous ceremonies in hon- 
or of the resurrection of our Lord are over, 



A CONNECTING LINK. 73 

and the pope has blessed the people in front 
of St. Peter's, every theater, dance-house, 
and place of sin will be open and filled to 
overflowing. I acknowledge the good works 
of benevolence which the Romanists have 
done, but my observation teaches me that 
they have never learned to keep holy the 
Lord's day, or practice many Christian 
virtues. 

March 23. — We have spent the entire day 
in "Old Rome." At the Colosseum, Arch 
of Constantine, and along the Via Sacra; at 
the Arch of Titus and through the Forum; 
at the Arch of Septimus Severus, and among 
the statues of the Capitol and the Pantheon, 
I have been talking to my traveling family 
on Roman history and antiquities. In this 
way we expect to occupy every day of the 
present week. 

Rome, March 23, 1891. 



SECOND CONNECTING LINK. 



O Rome! my country! city of the soul! 
The orphans of the heart must turn to thee, 
Lone mother of the dead empires! 

TTARCH24-— I have finished reading "The 
.-VI Romans a Hundred Years Ago." This 
must have been a dirty, dilapidated city, and 
filled with a desperate population. It is not 
so now. Within the present century, it has 
grown from 160,000 souls to half a million. 
I can name no city in Europe where so many 
magnificent structures are in process of erec- 
tion. They are even embanking the Tiber like 
the Londoners have done the Thames and the 
Parisians the Seine. " The Eternal City," 
which has lived since 750 before Christ, has 
" taken a new lease on life." Look from the 
top of the capitol or from the dome of St. 
Peter's at the beautifully undulating coun- 
try! It suggests health. Wine-drinkers all 
declare the water is not good. People who 

come here for dissipation complain of Roman 
(74) 



. SECOND CONNECTING LINK. 75 

fever. But whence the healthy men and 
women who have lived here for twenty-five 

hundred vears? 

«/ 

After cabling our congratulations to the 
niece, Lenamay Green, we devoted the day 
to the palace of the Pope of Rome. St. Pe- 
ter's " successor " lives in a much larger house 
than those usually intended foi* the shelter of 
Christian ministers. The building was com- 
menced over one thousand years ago, and 
there has been time for enlargement since 
that date. The walls are 15 feet in thick- 
ness, and inclose 14 ample courts, 300 stair- 
ways, and 11,454 rooms. Leo XIII. is 82 
years of age, and, like all great men, he is 
doomed to incessant thought and labor. In 
this respect he is the peer of Xapoleon I. or 
Frederick the Great. The pope rises at six 
in the morning, and works far into the night. 
His only recreation is a drive through gar- 
dens of bewildering beauty, three miles in 
circumference. The old gentleman was never 
married; but his family, counting from the 
College of Cardinals down to the Swiss 
Guards, numbers 1,160 persons. Our busi- 



76 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

ness in the Vatican was to see more than a 
mile of frescoes, pictures, statuary, mosaics, 
and books. It will require another day to 
complete the job. If any critic should read 
this diarv, and differ with me about the an- 
cient foundation of the Vatican, let him re- 
member that it existed in the time of Charle- 
magne, who inhabited it when he was crowned 
by Leo III. on Christmas-day, A.D. 800. 

March 25. — AVe beheld service and cere- 
monies in the Pantheon. This magnificent 
temple of all the gods of " Old Rome " is now 
a Christian Church. It was erected by 
Agrippa 27 years before the Christian era. 
The Parthenon at Athens is shattered and in 
ruins, but the Pantheon is preserved. A.D. 
608, Phocas, Emperor of Constantinople, 
gave it to Boniface IV., who consecrated it 
to the Virgin and Martyrs; hence its pres- 
ent name. The portico is supported by 16 
columns of Oriental granite of a single block, 
with beautiful capitals. They support an en- 
tablature and a pediment of stupendous de- 
sign. In the interior we find grandeur and 
elegance united. Bein^r of a circular form, 



SECOND CONNECTING LINK. 77 

it is commonly called La Roionda. Its di- 
ameter is 132 feet, and it measures the same 
in height. Its roof is all dome — the largest 
in the world. Like all pagan temples, it has 
no windows; the light comes from an aper- 
ture in the dome. In this temple are buried 
several celebrated artists, among them Ra- 
phael, the most famous of them all. Victor 
Emanuel, the " Unifier of Italy," was interred 
here in 1878. (This paragraph looks to me 
somewhat like a page in a guide book. Well, 
there shall be no more to-day.) 

March 26. — Holy Week is passing away. 
Churches all open day and night. Service, 
ceremonies, music, marching, masses every- 
where. Dignitaries of Church and State are 
thick as knaves. The Queen of Italy and the 
Duchess of Genoa assisted at the service to- 
day in the Church of the Sudario. In the 
afternoon her Majesty visited several churches 
where the sepulcher was exhibited. She 
made the pious pilgrimage on foot. I have 
heard of but one sermon. On Tuesday last, 
at the Vatican, Father Francesco da Loreto, 
of the Capuchin Order, preached the last of 



78 SKETCHY PACES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

his Lenten sermons in the presence of the 
pope and the pontifical court. If the monk 
held forth the word of life, it was delivered 
in the right place. 

The music lias not met the expectations of 
the multitude of foreigners who are here, one 
piece excepted — The Miserere. We heard it 
twice — once in St. Peter's and again in St. 
John Lateran. There were 20,000 persons 
present at St. Peter's, and about 5,000 at St. 
John's. The choirs of these rival churches 
are led by masters of great celebrity. I know 
nothing of the science of music; but any 
man of sense or sensibility ought to be spir- 
itually improved by listening to The Miserere. 
All descriptions of the execution and effect 
of this wonderful chant seem tame, except J. 
T. Headley's, in his " Letters from Italy." 
The reader is referred. 

Easter Sunday. — AYe have used our time 
this morning to the best advantage. First 
to the Church of 8. Pietro Yincoll. This 
church contains the world's masterpiece of 
statuary — Michael Angelo's "Moses." The 
service was dull, and we left. !N"ext to the 



SECOND CONNECTING LINK. 79 

Basilica, where the Bambino is worshiped, 
and on whose steps Edward Gibbon planned 
the " Decline and the Fall of the Roman Em- 
pire." Then to the Jesuit's Church for the 
sake of the music, of which there was none. 
A iter all this we had ample time to worship 
the Lord with the English Protestants. The 
clergyman maintained, in the usual way, the 
resurrection of Christ and of the whole human 
race. While speaking of the foundation of 
the Church he regretted that strong men like 
John Kobinson and John Knox and John 
Wesley had been able to mar its unity. lie 
told the burly English people that they were 
more capable of keeping Lent than any other 
nation — they were naturally a quiet, sober, 
sedate race. Thought I : u They may have 
capacity for fasting, but scores of them in 
Hotel D'Allemagne have the largest 'ca- 
pacity ' for breaking a fast I have ever seen." 
The house was full this morning — the last 
chair taken. The carriages of the aristocracy 
drove up late. Their liveried footmen came 
in with their masters and heard the sermon. 
After to-night Holy Week is over. Plays 



80 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

and operas are announced, and the races be- 
gin to-morrow. "Hail, holy Rome!" The 
gay turn-outs are already glittering on their 
way to the Pincian Hill drives. I wish I could 
be at a Methodist protracted meeting. I want 
to see somebody in earnest — talking about re- 
ligion as if he believed in its truths. 

March 30. — This is a good day for letters. 
The portier handed us a large package from 
America. I make my best bow to Col. Fite 
for four pages. His letter is like himself: 
agreeable, versatile, newsy. W. T. Turley, 
Esq., is in with two more. He ought to have 
a premium for letter- writing. He is next to 
Irving on a literary salmagundi. 

We leave Rome to-day for an excursion to 
the island of Capri. It lies out in the Bay 
of ^Naples, just opposite the city, and in full 
view of Mt. Vesuvius. There we shall rest 
a little while on its shining shores, and then 
return to Rome. "We have forty-six days 
yet at our disposal before the season for en- 
tering Russia or Scandinavia. Health still 
gushes from a thousand springs. Love to all. 

Rome, March 30, 1891. 



ANOTHER CONNECTING LINK. 



JV PRIL 6.— We leave Naples—" la Bella." 
jMl. The island of Capri is twenty-five miles 
distant from the Sea-wall. I mention a few 
of the excursions that may be made from i t s 
shores, giving the Italian spelling: Grotte- 
Bleue, Sorento, Castellammare, Pompeii, 
Ilercnlaniim, Mont Vesnve, and all the en- 
virons of Napoli. We took these delightful 
and instructive trips without hurry or weari- 
ness. The bay of Naples is usually quiet 
as a lake, and the little steamers are crowded 
with intelligent tourists from all lands. 
Bands of music everywhere, but no danc- 
ing. 

We are again in the "Niobe of the Na- 
tions." Many of her children are dead, but 
Rome now lives and nourishes. The city is 
still called "UMema." My last view of this 
world center w r as taken from the Church of 

San Maria Maggiore, w T hose foundations 

6 (81) 



82 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

were laid away back in the first ages of 
Christianity. 

April 7. — Reached Florence, the city of 
fair flowers, and certainly the flower of fair 
cities. All that nature can furnish or art 
create may be found here. We abide for 
several days. 

The ninth General Conference of the 
Christians of all nations, known as the 
Evangelical Alliance, is in session here. 
Think of free discussions on religious mat- 
ters in the heart of Italy! There are two 
Churches represented here now. On one 
side is the dominating papacy, which, by 
reason of its own special dogma, does not 
allow controversy. It must be accepted or 
wot j list as it is. The people, or at least a 
majority of them, accept it in form; but if 
statistics could be drawn up of the con- 
sciences, how many among those who are 
registered as Roman Catholics in name 
would appear as real Catholics? How 
many are there, in fact, who openly admit 
that their religion is nothing else than a re- 
ligion of habit? 



ANOTHER CONNECTING LINK. 83 

On the other side, moved by a noble spirit 
of charity, several Protestant denominations, 
from various parts of the world, have sent 
members to Italy to awaken the religious 
spirit. These learned men, hard-working, 
patient, and benevolent, have done a great 
deal of good. They have founded churches, 
gathered around them groups of sincere be- 
lievers; but a real religious movement has 
not been stirred by them yet. 

Steps toward reform in Italy were taken 
about the end of the 15th century by Sa- 
vonarola and others, and again in the begin- 
ning of the 16th century; but they were 
checked at once, and not by Italians only. 
!N"ow, near the close of the 19th century, a 
new reform ought to be started by Italians 
in Italy. 

A part, small but compact, of the Italian 
population, since time immemorial, consti- 
tutes a Church which could gather around it 
all those dissenting from the Vatican doc- 
trines, but who intend remaining Christians. 
That glorious population, which has for cent- 
uries inhabited those valleys running down 



84 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

from the Cottian Alps, between the sources 
of the Po and the Dora; which has upheld 
inviolate its belief through persecutions of 
every kind; which has been rendered famous 
by historians and sung by poets from Milton 
to Mamiani — could it not be the center of 
Italian reform? The Waldenses are meant. 
Several delegates from America were es- 
pecially cordial to me, among whom was 
Bishop Walden. Some went so far as to 
offer me a permanent seat, but a ticket of 
admission was all I desired. Suppose you 
print it in words and figures as follows: 
Alleanza Evangelica. 
IX a Conferenza internazionale. 
Dal 6 agli 11 Aprile 1891. 
(E. Peatro Tommaso Salvina, Via de'Neri.) 
Biglietto d' Ingresso 
Posti Resevati in 3a Fila. 
II Presidente del Comitato Florentine 

P. Geyonat. 
The theater in which the Alliance met 
was filled from floor to ceiling, including 
four o-alleries. After the President an- 
nounced the hymns in several different lan- 
guages everybody sung. Then came the 



ANOTHER CONNECTING LINK. 85 

opening prayer in a foreign tongue. Indeed, 
I heard but one speech in English, and that 
was delivered through an interpreter. The 
speaker was an American and a Methodist. 
His subject, the " Doctrine of the Holy 
Spirit." " 

While I am writing, the Roman Herald 
has been brought in. Under the head of 
(i General News" it says: "The ninth In- 
ternational Conference of the Evangelical 
Alliance was inaugurated last week in Flor- 
ence. A great number of ministers and 
evangelical notabilities, representing twenty 
different nationalities, were present. After 
the opening formalities had been gone 
through with, it was proposed to send a tel- 
egram of respectful homage to King Hum- 
bert. The proposal was voted immediately, 
amidst enthusiastic applause. 

" In reply the following letter was sent to 
the President of the Congress : 

" His Majesty the king received, with great pleas- 
ure, the respectful homage accorded by the repre- 
sentatives of the religious faith professed by a Sub- 
alpine people (Waldenses) endeared to him for their 



86 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

faithful loyalty to the House of Savoy. Our August 
Sovereign thanks in special manner all the strangers 
assembled, for their good wishes, and invocations to 
God for Italy's prosperity; and is happy to know 
that when they return to their homes they will take 
with them feelings of sympathy for this country and 
retain a pleasing remembrance of it. His Majesty 
the King wishes to express his cordial feelings to- 
ward the Congress. The General Secretary, 

"Battazzi." 

Another learned body has just gone from 
Florence. The gentlemen were scientists 
from London. They all stopped at the An- 
glo-American Hotel, where we are also lodg- 
ing. 

There are six American Episcopal Church- 
es on the Continent of Europe, established at 
the following places: Rome, Paris, Nice, 
Dresden, Geneva, and Florence. They are 
building another at Lucerne. 

April 12. — Attended the American Church 
expecting to hear Dr. Tiffany, of New York, 
or Dr. Philip Schaff, but heard a vastly in- 
ferior man. The paragraph on Stonewall 
Jackson must have been written for the 
especial benefit of Southern ears. Wife is 



ANOTHER CONNECTING LINK. 87 

determined not to hear him any more. The 
men of our latitude have accepted the results 
of the Civil War, and are behaving admira- 
bly; but the women who were once refugees, 
and tasted sorghum and corn-bread, are re- 
solved "to die game;" or at least they will 
tolerate no eulogy on Stonewall Jackson 
that contains the word " misguided." 

April 13. — We are shipped for Venice, 
the " City Built on the Sea." "We can af- 
ford to remain there for some time. The 
"tarif" at the Victoria Hotel is very mod- 
erate. 

The Christum Advocate is beginning to 
reach us with some regularity. News from 
a far country; how delightful it is! Espe- 
cially if that country is our home. I hope 
John Howard Payne is in heaven. I feel 
like I would be willing to turn an angel out 
to let him in. 

En Route, April 13. 1891. 



THE LAST COIOs T ECTIXG LINK. 



APRIL 20. — For a week we have been 
floating along water streets and alleys, 
gazing at the beauties and triumphs of ar- 
chitecture, walking over bridges, listening to 
music, and occasionally hearing an eccentric 
Scotch Presbyterian preacher. 

My friend Hill is exceedingly fond of Pus- 
kin. For his gratification I quote a para- 
graph from the "Stones of Venice:" "The 
State of Venice existed thirteen hundred 
and seventy-six years from the first estab- 
lishment of a Consular Government on the 
island of the Rialto to the moment when the 
general in chief of the French army of Italy 
pronounced the Venetian Republic a thing 
of the past. Of this period two hundred and 
seventy-six years were passed in a nominal 
subjection to the cities of old Venetia, espe- 
cially to Padua, and in an agitated form of 

democracy, of which the executive appears 

(88) * 



THE LAST CONNECTING LINK. 89 

to have been intrusted to tribunes, chosen 
one by the inhabitants of each of the princi- 
pal islands. For six hundred years, during 
which the power of Venice was continually 
on the increase, her government was an elect- 
ive monarchy, her king or doge possessing, 
in earl} 7 times at least, as much independent 
authority as any other European sovereign, 
but an authority gradually subjected to lim- 
itation, and shortened almost daily of its pre- 
rogatives, while it increased in a spectral 
and incapable magnificence. The final gov- 
ernment of the nobles, under the image of a 
king, lasted for five hundred years, during 
which Venice reaped the fruits of her former 
energies, consumed them, and expired." 

The work accomplished in the early days 
of Venice must have been stupendous. Her 
canals (streets) were made and preserved. 
Man's enterprise had to do battle with the 
assailing ocean. Forests of piles had to be 
sunk to hold the shifting land together. In 
the lapse of time the huts of Veneti gave 
way to marble palaces, and the group of des- 
olate islands, stolen from the sea, was con- 



90 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

verted into one of the chief cities in the 
world. 

The fifteenth century witnessed the culmi- 
nation of the greatness of Venice. From its 
earliest days until the close of that century, 
step by step it rose higher and higher until 
the whole world acknowledged it as the cen- 
ter of commercial prosperity. 

More. Here Galileo, in 1609, on a visit, 
while professor in the old University of 
Padua, invented the telescope; and having 
with it studied the stars from the summit of 
the Campanile of St. Mark, presented it to 
the doge. Here, too, at a subsequent period, 
Sirturi constructed an instrument of the 
same description, and used it on the same 
bell-tower. Here Ignatius Loyola, in 1536, 
organized, with his friends, the order of the 
Jesuits, and hence repairing to Rome, sought 
and gained the sanction of Paul III. to his 
enterprise. In Venice were born, or lived, 
or died, Titian and Tintoretto, Vittoria and 
Canova, Tasso and Marco Polo; and the 
dwellings they inhabited are yet pointed out. 

At the opening of the seventeenth century 



THE LAST CONNECTING LINK. 91 

the first newspaper in the world appeared at 
Venice, and being* sold for a coin called a 
gazetta, it thence took its name. Strange 
that the great " palladium of liberty " should 
have originated under the most jealous des- 
potism that ever existed! At Venice, too, 
appeared the first bill of exchange and the 
first bank of deposit and discount. 

Just see where this fondness for history is 
about to carry me ! Don't I know " full well " 
that the more I write in this strain the less 
interesting will this diary appear in the esti- 
mation of the majority of the people? Won- 
der if my old friend Gov. Foote ever finished 
and published his " History of the Venetian 
Republic?" The pages I heard read were 
brilliant to the last degree. They reminded 
me of "John Lord's Lectures." 

We left the unique city early this morning, 
and came to Milan by the way of Padua and 
Verona. The university buildings at the 
former place are " a sight " with age, and the 
tomb of Shakespeare's Juliet, at the latter, 
has been converted into a washing-tub. So 
we tarried at neither place. 



92 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TEA VEL. 

Milan is the solidest city in Italy, and one 
of the largest. Three hundred thousand peo- 
ple are making- money, and therewith seem 
content. Not a beggar appears ! Of course 
we shall take the regulation drives and make 
the usual visits — to the " Miracle in Marble; " 
to the spot where the iron crown of Lombardy 
was placed upon the heads of Charlemagne, 
Charles V., and ]STapoleon I.; to the church 
containing the original " Great Supper," by 
Leonardo da Vinci; and to the Campo Santo 
and Crematory. Then we shall gather up 
our clothes, strap our valises, settle our bills, 
"tip" the servants of the Belle- Yue, and 
take leave of the fine arts of Italy forever. 

April 23. — We are at Lucerne — the shining 
place. To get here we came through the 
wildest of all wild regions. When the St. 
Gothard railway begins to ascend the Alps, 
it climbs elevation upon elevation and height 
upon height so easily you think it may equal 
Hannibal or Napoleon, and cross over; but 
after awhile the train glides into a tunnel 
which runs under the highest peaks for about 
ten miles, and lets you out on the other side. 



THE LAST CONNECTING LINK. 93 

On the route from Milan to this place we 
left Lake Como and Lake Lugano on the 
right hand, Lake Maggiore on the left, and 
skimmed around Lake Lucerne. This is an 
old city. The inhabitants are the descend- 
ants of the prehistoric " Lake Dwellers." It 
has been raining all day. No difference. 
Let it rain on. The letters came from home, 
and along with them a beautiful picture of 
the charming and chubby grandchild. Wife 
is willing to have rain to-morrow. 

Here we find the Lion of Lucerne, a, cele- 
brated monument executed by Lucas Ahorn, 
of Constance, after a model by Thorwaldsen, 
and completed in 1821. It is intended to 
commemorate the soldiers and officers of the 
Swiss Guard, to the number of eight hun- 
dred, who laid lown their lives at the Tuile- 
ries in Paris, in defense of Louis XYL, in 
1792. The men who died so bravely are per- 
haps destined to find a more lasting monu- 
ment in the eloquent and spirit-stirring words 
of Carlyle: "Honor to you, brave men; hon- 
orable pity, through long times! Not mar- 
tyrs were ye, and yet almost more. He was 



94 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

no king of yours, this Louis; and he forsook 
you like a king of shreds and patches. Ye 
were but sold to him for some poor sixpence 
a day, yet would ye work for your wages, 
keep your plighted words. The work was 
now to die, and ye did it. Honor to you, O 
kinsmen! ]N~ot bastards; true bora were 
these men; sons of the men of Sempach, of 
Murten, who knelt, but not to thee, O Bur- 
gundy ! Let the traveler, as he passes through 
Lucerne, turn aside to look a little at their 
monumental lion; not for Thorwaldsens sake 
alone. Hewn out of the living rock, the fig- 
ure rests there by the still lake waters, in 
lullaby of distant tinkling Hance-des-vacJies, 
the granite mountains dumbly keeping watch 
all round; and though inanimate, speak." 

April 25. — This is Saturday. We came to 
Schafhausen and stopped, simply because we 
never travel on Sunday. The Creator's plan 
is better than ours. 

On the Lord's day we attended a Protest- 
ant Church of immense size. It was com- 
fortably seated and well filled. The people 
were not coming in, strolling around, and 



THE LAST CONNECTING LINK. 95 

going out all the time, as in the pewless ca- 
thedrals of Italy. John Hall's congregation 
in aSTew York is not more prompt and orderly 
and devout than these Swiss Calvinists. 

April 28. — After running out of Switzer- 
land and crossing Lake Constance, we are 
spending several days in Munich, the capital 
of the kingdom of Bavaria. Among: the 
cities of Germany, this holds the first rank 
as a city of art, possessing a greater number 
of monumental buildings, replete with valua- 
ble collections. "I will make of Munich 
such a city that whosoever has not seen it 
does not know Germany," once declared 
King Ludwig I., and he made good the dec- 
laration. It is certainly the most beautiful 
place we ever saw. (If I wrote a sentence 
like this in Barcelona, Spain, I now beg leave 
to take it back.) 

April 30. — Spent the forenoon in the Royal 
Bronze Foundry, established in 1825 by King 
Maximilian I. The moment one enters he 
sees that America has availed herself largely 
of the work done here. The models of Wash- 
ington, Jefferson, Webster, Clay, Benton, 



96 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Marshall, Everett, and dozens more are here, 
in the midst of emperors, kings, princes, au- 
thors, and generals. The chief of the estab- 
lishment is a nobleman, in whose office I 
passed an hour. His calculations and prop- 
ositions are more favorable than those made 
in New York. I shall return to his office 
to-morrow. 

May 2. — This is the last paragraph I shall 
write in the form of a diary; for after stop- 
ping some days in Dresden, we go straight 
to Berlin. There, according to contract, a 
Russian courier will meet us. "With him we 
shall travel through the Tsar's dominions and 
all Scandinavia. When I was a country boy, 
one of my few " manly accomplishments " 
was swimming. Early in the season I al- 
ways dreaded to make the first dive. So now 
we hesitate about making our first plunge 
into a country so naturally cold and strange 
as the immense Empire of Russia. But the 
Lord is provident. So we have found him. 
Therefore we trust him with implicit faith. 

Dresden, May 2, 1891. 



THE GERMAN CAPITAL. 



ON our arrival in Berlin I had, in small 
change, only about thirty marks. So, as 
soon as we settled down, I must see some 
bankers. It was about 1 o'clock. The In- 
ternational Bank was closed for lunch — two 
hours. I walked on to the Dresden Bank. 
Closed for lunch! They showed me the 
reading-room, where I found the New York 
Herald and other American papers. At 3 
o'clock all the financial gentlemen appeared. 

"Who speaks English?" quoth the cus- 
tomer. 

" I do," said an officer. 

" Can you give me German gold for En- 
glish bank-notes? " 

"We can." 

Whereupon he wrote out a receipt on a 

piece of paper about the size of a leaf from 

a family Bible. It stated that the bank had 

received from me two five - pound notes, 

7 (97) 



98 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Bank of England, for which I had been paid 
two hundred and two marks. The officer 
then went to the vault where the precious 
metal is kept, and remained about five min- 
utes before delivering the gold. Two days 
afterward I went back for more money. All 
the banks were closed. It was Ascension 
Day. Suppose the banks of Nashville were 
to shut up every time the Roman Catholics 
or the Protestant Episcopalians choose to 
observe a " day! " What a number of holi- 
days the officers and employees would enjoy! 
I write this paragraph for the consideration 
of Plater, Keith, Harris, Porterfield, Sperry, 
and the rest. They are just a little too en- 
ergetic for any German use. Why rush 
yourselves to death, old gentlemen? 

We have been to the Royal Art Exhibi- 
tion. The artists of Berlin are celebrating 
the fiftieth year of their Association. Em- 
press Frederick, mother of the Kaiser, is the 
chief patroness. Her late visit to Paris is 
known to all. The Exhibition grounds and 
buildings are "wonderful," as Bishop Keen- 
er would say. All lands where sculptors 



THE CKUMAS CAPITAL. 99 

and painters flourish have " departments " 
here. Even distant "Amerika" has filled 
two rooms. And let it be said to our credit 
that no obscene figure appears upon any 
Western canvas. "We are the decent people 
of the world. 'Tis true, we rise up early and 
lie down late, and hurry through life; we 
drive and strive and struggle to get rich, and 
refuse to enjoy ourselves unless we are "in 
easy circumstances; " but, compared with 
other nations, we are decidedly religious 
and decent. 

The American flag floats westward from 
one pinnacle of the Exhibition building. 
One sight of the " stars and stripes " brought 
to memory a long-forgotten poem of N. P. 
Willis: 

Bright flag, at yonder tapering mast, 
Fling out your field of azure blue ! 

Let star and stripe be westward cast, 
And point as freedom's eagle flew! 

Strain home, O lithe and quivering spars ! 

Point home, my country's flag of stars. 

When we were here four years ago, Prince 
William was living quietly at Potsdam. 



100 SKETCHY PAGES OE FOBEIGN TRAVEL. 

Then he was two removes from the throne. 
Now lie is an emperor, and, though quite a 
young man, seems to have mastered the 
whole trade of kingdom and lordship. (The 
history of heroes is the history of young 
men.) At that time Prince Bismarck was at 
the head of the government — an actual Dic- 
tator. Now he begs votes to elect him a 
member of the Reichstag, where he will ap- 
pear as the opponent of the government. 
The most pathetic spectacle of antiquity is 
the great Belisarius begging an obolus at the 
gates of Rome. But Belisarius never posed 
as the eneni}^ of his emperor. If Prince 
Bismarck had remained in retirement — otmnn 
cum dignitate — he would have gone down to 
posterity as the most powerful statesman of 
the nineteenth century. Now he loses 
henceforth. 

What uncounted sums of money kingdoms 
and royal families expend in the building of 
palaces! I give the list of those I have seen 
here: The National Palace, Berlin; the Kai- 
ser's private palace; palace of the Crown 
Prince; Castle of Charlottenberg; the Na- 



THE GERMAN CAPITAL. 101 

tional Palace at Potsdam; Sans Souci; New 
Palace; Marble Palace; and Babelsburg, be- 
sides others at watering-places, summer re- 
sorts, and on the Rhine. All these are at 
the service of the royal family of the king- 
dom of Prussia — a family that has never 
been accused of much splendor or extrava- 
gance, as Louis XIY. was. Add to this 
that the German Empire is made up of a 
number of kingdoms, dukedoms, princedoms, 
and free cities, and that each of these kings, 
dukes, and princes has more than one pal- 
ace. The apartments of these palaces seem 
to be endless, and there are many single 
rooms that cost more money than the finest 
dwelling-house in Tennessee. Then look at 
the grounds, furniture, servants, guards, and 
you are ready to exclaim: "No wonder the 
common people are so poor and women work 
in the fields! Who blames such strong- 
headed men as Stahlman and John Ruhm 
for getting up and going out of such a conn- 
try?" 

While I am writing, intelligence reaches 
us from the courier who is to travel with us 



102 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

through Russia. His name is Clausen, a 
Swiss by birth, but thoroughly conversant 
with the Tsar's people. I hope our experi- 
ence with him will lead us to speak, as all 
European people do, of " the fidelity of the 
Swiss." When, in revolutionary times, a 
" Guard " was placed in front of the palace 
of Louis XVI., Swiss were chosen, and they 
died for him. As one enters the Vatican in 
Rome, he passes between files of soldiers. 
They are the famous " Swiss Guards." The 
Republic of Switzerland could only be con- 
quered by the death of the last Switzer. 
May our Swiss conductor prove to be a du- 
plicate of William Tell, if we get into any 
danger of inhabiting- the penal settlements 
of Siberia! 

What shall I say of this great city? It is 
not so beautiful as Munich, but it is the most 
regularly laid out and solidly built capital 
of Europe. The streets are wide, and smooth 
as a house floor. They are scrubbed every 
morning just as we scrub our halls and 
porches. Human life is as safe at night as 
in the day-time. A policeman stands at 



THE GERMAN CAPITAL. 103 

every crossing". Living- here is abundant 
and cheap. I am spending less money here 
than I should at home. Wife says that ev- 
erybody is well dressed except her husband. 
Our traveling- family sleep about nine hours 
out of every twenty-four. They will be kept 
wide-awake for the next forty days. We 
shall get but little rest until we arrive in 
London next July. Then, for a few days 
again, Ave shall test the Neapolitan maxim 
for all it is worth. 

Why do Christians keep their religion so 
much in abeyance? At the breakfast-table 
this morning they were telling each other 
about the concerts, operas, theaters, and 
what places of innocent entertainment would 
open (free) to-day ; but not a word about the 
location of a church, the hour of service, the 
music, or the minister. Each person at the 
table is a member of some Church at home. 
Finally I called a German maid, who "speaks 
English a leetle," and inquired for Dr. Stuck- 
enburg's place of worship. In reply she 
brought the following card: "American and 
British Union Services, 11:30 a.m., Nos. 5 



104 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

and G Junker Strasse." About one dozen 
went from our breakfast - table to church. 
The Doctor is a very learned man, a most 
impressive preacher. He came to his pulpit 
just fifteen minutes before there was a sound 
from the organ. He did not wait, like my 
St. Louis friend, until the organ "pealed 
forth," and then march up the aisle with in- 
describable solemnity. Our preacher to-day 
wore no robes, read no hymns — did nothing 
but conduct a plain, extempore service, and 
preach a pure gospel sermon. ISTo wonder 
his house is filled every Sunday. His de- 
scription of "modern society, spending a 
life-time in the pursuit of trifles — nothings," 
is equal to any thing Thackeray has written 
when in his most excoriating moods. Then 
when he dwelt upon the quiet and peaceable 
lives of all true Christians, it made me think 
of Middle Tennessee, and the differences be- 
tween brethren there who have been life-long 
friends. That subject never enters my mind 
without converting my usually delightful 
wanderings into a via dolorosa. Pardon 
me, dear brethren. A man of my years and 



THK GERMAN CAPITAL. 105 

present sentiments has nothing to gain or 
lose by the course of events, but you must 
allow me, under the influence of the noble 
utterances I heard to-day, to record my in- 
expressible sorrow. 

We shall probably spend our next Lord's 
day in Warsaw, the ancient capital of Po- 
land, and the next in " Holy Moscow." Fare 
you well. 

Berlin, May 10, 1891. 



" HOLY MOSCOW." 



TT was easier asked than done. Alex, and 
1 I appeared " during office hours," before 
the Russian Consul-general at Berlin. We 
spread seven passports before him asking 
for his vise. The dark-haired nobleman 
looked at us. and we looked at him. He 
knew no English, we knew no Russian. He 
sat down, we sat down. There was silence 
for half an hour. Just then an American 
lady came in speaking German. So soon as 
her passport was stamped she became our in- 
terpreter. We must first secure the vise of 
Mr. Edwards, the American Consul, and then 
come to the Russian Consulate. This was 
done, and we entered the dominions of the 
Tsar protected by the American eagle and 
the double-headed black eagle of Russia. 
This awful-looking, two-headed bird has been 
doing service since 1472, when Ivan III. 
married Sophia Palaeologus, daughter of the 

last Christian Emperor of Constantinople. 

(106) 



" HOLY Moscow." 107 

Some evening when I am telling the " Tales 
of a Traveler" I shall give yon a description 
of a company of Laplanders whom I saw be- 
fore leaving the German capital. There were 
men, women, and children — fathers, mothers, 
and babies — all clad in furs, from the shores 
of the Arctic Sea. They exhibited their 
tents, sledges, implements of labor, cooking- 
utensils, and scores of other things peculiar 
to a life spent in the region of perpetual 
snow and ice. They are a small, white, with- 
ered, and tough-looking race. By judicious 
use of small coins I made several friends 
among them whom I met frequently after- 
ward. On the same morning I saw some 
descendants of the Aztecs, from Central 
America; also an intelligent two-headed, 
four-armed boy from Italy, and a full-bearded 
Virginia woman. (I suppose she is a de- 
scendant of Esau.) 

We left Berlin on Saturday, and came to 
Breslau to rest and worship on the Lord's 
day. While listening to the pealing organ 
and a thousand voices in the Lutheran Church 
I thought how fortunate it is for Protestant- 



108 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOEEIGN TRAVEL. 

ism that the great reformer was so devoted 
to sacred poetry and music. To the ordina- 
ry reader the word " Breslan " seems only a 
geograpical distinction, yet it designates a 
flourishing commercial city, about the size 
of St. Louis, paved and built and covered in 
as if the workmen intended it to stand for- 
ever. And that delightful old German hos- 
telry, Zum Weissen Adler! Breslau is the 
capital of the province of Silesia, to know all 
about which one must read Carlyle's "Life 
of Frederick the Great." But in this utili- 
tarian age who cares for the quarrels of " Old 
Fritz" and Maria Theresa? He lies quietly 
behind the pulpit in the Garrison Church of 
Potsdam, and she in a splendid mausoleum 
in Vienna, and Silesia flourishes as a member 
of the German Confederacy. 

Our next stop was in Warsaw, capital of 
the ancient kingdom of Poland. We were 
now in Russia. To know this, we did not 
have to wait until our arrival at the " Border 
Station," and the call was made for baggage 
and passports. In less than a mile after 
crossing the little brook that divides the two 



" HOLY MOSCOW." 109 

empires, you miss the neat farm-houses, the 
carefully trimmed hedges, the compact roads, 
and high cultivation of Eastern Prussia. 
You enter a country that looks as primitive 
in every respect as some of our North-west- 
ern States. About one hundred years ago 
the various partitions of Poland Avere com- 
pleted. The most densely populated portion 
fell to Austria, the richest part was given to 
Prussia, while the Russians took the largest 
area. This included the city of Warsaw. 
Somebody says : "An emperor, a king, and a 
Tsar swallowed unhappy Poland without even 
saying grace." Warsaw is a bright, beauti- 
ful, and bustling city of nearly half a million, 
with stately lines of houses and ample squares. 
We had only two days to devote to it, but 
we made good use of them. We drove 
from 9 in the morning until 8 in the even- 
ing. Our cicerone was a native born Jew. 
lie knew all the topography, history, and bi- 
ography, especially the exploits of King John 
Sobieski and Thaddeus Kosciusko. Wonder 
if anybody ever lived in Warsaw except those 
two knightly gentlemen? 



110 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Miss Lester was completely obfuscated by 
the signs. " Well," said she, " this is the 
first place on our tour where I can neither 
read nor translate the sign-boards." None 
of us could assist her. 

The long run from Warsaw to Moscow by 
the way of Minsk, Smolensk, and other well- 
known cities, gave us some idea of the vast- 
ness of the Russian Empire, occupying, as it 
does, one-seventh part of the land surface of 
the globe. In 1886 the Tsar and his people 
numbered only 109,000,000. Any one can see 
that the country is thinly settled. Forests 
are always in sight. The inhabitants use 
wood as we do in America — for building and 
fencing, and even for fuel. The railroads are 
the best in the world. At present they meas- 
ure only 17,000 miles, but others are in 
course of construction. No trouble to build 
them: the country is as level as Holland. 
The mujiks (peasants) gather about the rail- 
road stations to see the trains pass. They are 
dressed very much like the same class of peo- 
ple with us. The Tcupets (traders) look exact- 
ly like brisk Yankee merchants. The hoyars 



"HOLY Moscow." Ill 

(nobles) are generally in uniform. Everybody 
is serious. We have not heard a native laugh 
yet. Every man, woman, and child seems to 
have an aft'air to look after. These are ro- 
bust people. 

On reaching Moscow we are in the polit- 
ical and ecclesiastical center of all that is 
truly Russian. The city is spread over a cir- 
cumference of twenty-five miles, and has a 
population of 753,000. Some guide book- 
maker calls it " a vast village." We are at 
once struck by the busy life in the broad, ir- 
regular streets. They are crowded in sum- 
mer, as well as in winter, with vehicles and 
pedestrians. High prices rule. No staying 
at a hotel here on ten francs a day; ten rou- 
bles will pay you through, and leave a few 
co*peks over. 

Moscow is an old city. Chronicles record 
its existence more than one thousand years 
ago. In the year 1862 was celebrated the 
one thousandth anniversary of the existence 
of Russia, whether in the form of principali- 
ties, independent or confederated, or as the 
Grand Duchy of Moscow, by which those 



112 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

principalities were absorbed, and ultimately 
welded into an empire. 

Moscow is regarded as a holy city. The 
Church is every thing here. Hither pilgrims 
come from all parts of the Russo-Greek world. 
All Tsars are crowned in Moscow, and each 
one was buried here up to the time of Peter 
the Great. 

The religion of the eye and the ear, a relig- 
ion of forms and ceremonies, rarely ever has 
any effect on the lives of its professors. I 
had a capital opportunity of proving this to 
my courier the other day. There is a picture 
of the Virgin and child, or of some famous 
saint in the Russian calendar, at every street 
corner in Moscow. On one of our drives the 
courier gravely said: " What a religious peo- 
ple these Muscovites are ! See how they bow 
and cross themselves at the corners of the 
streets!" "Yes," said I, "and the largest 
building in the city is a foundling hospital, 
with accommodations for thousands of in- 
fants, and it is generally crowded." The 
four hundred Greek Churches of Moscow, 
with all their forms and ceremonies, do not 



" HOLY MOSCOW." 113 

seem to have much influence on the morals 
of the men and women. I pray that another 
word may never be added to the Ritual of 
our Church, but that several lines may be 
taken out. 

The Grand Duke Sergius, brother of the 
emperor, is the Governor-general of Moscow. 
On the day after our arrival, he held a recep- 
tion in the Kremlin of all the grandees of the 
city. State carriages by the acre! On the 
next day he reviewed the troops. If any 
American wonders how monarchy is main- 
tained in the Old World, he should see more 
than twenty acres of well-drilled officers and 
soldiers. The standing army of Russia num- 
bers 1,000,000. 

We remained about a week in " Moscow 
the white walled." Of course we saw the 
Romanoff House, the Petrofski Palace and 
Park, all the wonders and untold wealth of 
the Kremlin, the gorgeous churches, lofty 
towers, big bells, and ancient mausoleums. 
But all these will make a good theme for an- 
other lecture, and I must print no more at 
present. 



114 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TEA VEL. 

We have plenty of light in this country. 
The sun was up at 3 o'clock this morning. It 
is now 10 o'clock at night, and not dark yet. 
I shall have to get my people out of Russia 
on account of the heat. I shall date this let- 
ter May 25, but all the papers this morning 
are dated May 13. "Old Style" is twelve 
days later than " [New Style." Do you un- 
derstand? Ask Dr. Garland. 

May 25, 1891. 



THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL. 



WE left Moscow on the 26th of May, and 
arrived at St. Petersburg the next day. 
We passed the imperial train at night. The 
Tsar was going to Moscow to celebrate the 
tenth anniversary of his coronation. Every 
mile of the road was guarded by soldiers. 
"Seeing is believing." The encampments 
were about five miles apart. The Russian of- 
ficers and soldiers wear gray coats. They 
look like they would fight. 

The railroad from Moscow to St. Peters- 
burg is so perfectly balanced, and the compart- 
ments of the train are so admirably arranged, 
that one can hold a quiet and satisfactory 
conversation, or sleep soundly. The second- 
class cars are better than first-class in Spain 
or Italy. The conductors, or guards, are 
always ready to say and do pleasant things. 
I could entertain you, or harrow you up, 

with an account of the arrest of Nihilists, 

(115) 



116 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

the departure of exiles to Siberia, and the 
exodus of Jews, but everybody knows that I 
prefer the bright side of things. So I must 
record the cleanliness and comfort of rail- 
road traveling and the politeness and ac- 
commodation of hotel functionaries. Hotel 
life is a luxury in Russia. I am now writ- 
ing in a room of Hotel de France nearly as 
large and comfortable as the " living room " 
of Alexander II. in the Winter Palace. 
(Wife and the young people are taking an 
evening drive by daylight at 10 o'clock p.m. 
If I go down for coffee to-morrow morning 
at 7, I shall probably find the servants scrub- 
bing up the dining-room.) 

Moscow, the ancient capital, is in the heart 
of European Russia. Peter the Great grow 
tired of the place in 1703, and resolved to 
have a " window looking out into Europe. 1 ' 
So he built himself a cabin in a low swamp, 
just where the river Xera empties into the 
Gulf of Finland. That is where St. Peters- 
burg now stands. At a distance it looks 
like the city is floating, but it is well pegged 
down to the moist crust of the earth. Every 



THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL. 117 

house, even the vast cathedral of St. Isaacs, 
is built on piles twenty-one feet long. The 
place overflows, but it has not washed away 
yet. "A-pres nous le deluge." 

St. Petersburg contains one million of in- 
habitants, and is built upon a scale of vast- 
ness and magnificence far superior to any 
modern capital. It is like the Russian em- 
pire — immense; but not so monotonous. The 
Landaus and proliothis, drawn by superb 
horses, are flying in all directions. They 
move at run-away speed, and among their 
drivers we find ethnographical types on 
which we gaze with the interest we would be- 
stow on a Hindoo or a Chinaman in London. 
Their dress is almost a mediaeval survival of 
long, coarse, blue robes; and the head-dress 
is clearly a modernized descendant of the 
" beef-eater's " hat, brought to Russia by the 
adventurous Englishman, who discovered the 
sea-board of Muscovy in the sixteenth cent- 
ury. 

There is busy, noisy life in the market- 
houses as well as on the streets. These are 
huge inclosures, with avenues and stalls laid 



118 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

oif with perfect regularity, and they are kept 
clean. The people who sell and those who 
buy are dressed very much like the same 
classes of people in our own country. We 
have never heard of any thing to eat that 
may not be found in a St. Petersburg mar- 
ket-place. 

The palace of Louis XIV., at Versailles, 
has always been our example and illustration 
of the utmost regal splendor; but in every 
thing except building material and architect- 
ure it must now take second rank. An abso- 
lute monarchy surpasses all others in the erec- 
tion of colossal edifices and the collection of 
costly furniture and adornments, simply from 
the fact that there is nothing like a legisla- 
tive body to vote for or against a budget of 
expenses. Bear witness the temples and 
tombs of Egypt, the palaces on the Bosporus 
at Constantinople, and those of Moscow and 
St. Petersburg. The fiats of Pharaohs, Sul- 
tans, and Tsars have been sufficient for any 
undertaking. We left Moscow thinking that 
half the wealth of the world, invested in roy- 
al goods, in robes, crowns, jewels, plate, ar- 



THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL. 119 

mor, carriages, thrones, and the like, had been 
stored in the Kremlin (fortress); but we come 
to the capital to find every thing duplicated 
and even surpassed. 

The Winter Palace on the " Great Square " 
was completed in 1769 by Catharine the 
Great. This immense edifice may be con- 
sidered as emblematical of the magnitude 
of the empire, and <rf the power by which it 
is governed and held together. Connected 
with the palace, but entered by a noble ves- 
tibule from without, is the famed Hermitage, 
originally the Pavilion, built in 1765, in 
which the great Catharine spent her leisure 
moments with philosophers, men of letters, 
and artists. Among the ten thousand of 
other books may be found remnants of the 
libraries of Yoltaire, D'Alembert, and Dide- 
rot. We spent the best part of two days in 
the Winter Palace and the Hermitage. At 
the close, when we were all exhausted, one 
of the young people inquired how many 
miles we had walked. The question was 
not inappropriate. This royal abode, be- 
sides others in the city and suburbs, is a 



120 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

wonderful improvement on " Peter's House " 
at the mouth of the Neva, and Peterhof, 
many miles out on the shores of the Gulf 
of Finland, both of which we visited yester- 
day. , 
The interior of St. Isaacs, the cathedral* 
of St. Petersburg, is well calculated to in- 
spire feelings of solemnity and veneration. 
As in all Russo-Greek churches, the pur- 
posely subdued light brings into relief the 
glittering sumptuousness of the ilconostas, or 
screen, and of the ikons, mostly in mosaic 
work, which adorn the walls and pillars of 
the temple. Theologians of the Greek 
Church say that these are not worshiped. 
To my mind, the belief in images, to which 
miraculous powers are ascribed, is not easily 
distinguishable from actual material adora- 
tion. The Russo-Greek Church rejects as 
idolatrous any carved or molded representa- 
tion of saintly or sacred subjects for pur- 
poses of worship; but holds that an ikon 
painted or produced in Mosaic work, on a 
flat surface, is not a violation of the Second 
Commandment. 



THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL. 121 

We attended service at St. Isaacs on the 
anniversary of the coronation of the present 
emperor, and heard the Te Deum sung, and 
on several other occasions. At the Kasan 
Cathedral we saw an infant baptized by trine 
immersion. There are many costly votive 
objects and military trophies in this Cathe- 
dral, and the emperor never fails to offer up 
his prayers here immediately on his depart- 
ure from the capital and his return after a 
residence at some other imperial seat. Peter 
the Great and all the emperors since his day 
lie buried in the Cathedral of St. Peter and 
St. Paul, within the fortress. 

We have just returned from the Imperial 
Public Library. It is the largest library in 
the world but one. The number of printed 
volumes is over one million, and that of man- 
uscripts about thirty-four thousand. In ad- 
dition, there are eighty thousand engravings 
and maps. In one room are all the different 
pictures of Peter the Great ever made. I 
once saw, at Stratford-upon-Avon, all the 
pictures of Washington Irving. Peter ranks 
him. The Ostromir manuscript in the old 



122 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Slavonic character, and containing the Evan- 
gelistarium, bears the date of 1056 — that is, 
it was written about seventy years after the 
introduction of Christianity into Russia. A 
Greek codex of the four Evangelists, on 
parchment black with age, bears proof of 
its having been written in the ninth century. 
A copy of the Koran, made by a caliph of 
the ninth century, is also on exhibition. A 
still older manuscript, the chief glory of this 
department, is the famous Codex Sinaiticus, 
a complete copy of the Greek Bible, written 
in the fourth century, and discovered by Tes- 
chendorf in the Convent of St. Catharine, on 
Mount Sinai, in 1859. Those who suppose 
the Russians know nothing of the opinions 
entertained of them by other nations should 
see a room in this library, containing thirty 
thousand volumes in all languages (except 
Russian) that relate to the geography, his- 
tory, and government of the empire. 

There is a reading-room in this hotel, 
where native and foreign newspapers and 
magazines are free to all the guests. The 
English publications, especially the Times 



THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL. IM 

and the Standard, just teem with editorials 
and dispatches animadverting upon the gov- 
ernment of Russia, and denouncing it for its 
opposition to the Jewish race. From these 
and other sources the Russians can learn all 
about themselves. The Jews are also taught 
the cause of their troubles. 

It is known to all that the late emperor 
was assassinated by the Nihilists. The 
other day, under the direction of an old 
guide, I saw the place where he lunched on 
that fatal day, the spot where the bombs ex- 
ploded, the carriage that was shivered to 
splinters, and the bed on which he died. 
This was Tsar Alexander II., the one who 
emancipated over eighty millions of serfs. 

We leave here to-morrow for Finland, that 
country never visited by American tourists. 
My next letter may be from " The Land of a 
Thousand Lakes," or " The Lake of a Thou- 
sand Isles," as Finland is called by her lov- 
ing sons. 

St. Petersburg, June 1, 1891. 



iSTORTH OF THE BALTIC SEA. 



AFTER a long journey we are in London 
for the mid-summer. We left St. Peters- 
burg with the following sentences formulat- 
ing: It takes humanity a long while to be- 
come human. After all our boasting about 
the brotherhood of Christianized people, we 
frequently find men barbarians at heart. The 
present attitude of the Russian Government 
toward millions of Jews is in conflict with 
the civilization of the 19th century, and 
against the universal conscience of mankind. 
There are facts in connection with this sub- 
ject that I should scarcely require an Amer- 
ican audience to believe, and yet I propose to 
tell them when I get home. All that George 
Kennan has said concerning the penal settle- 
ments in Siberia may be surpassed by the 
story of the cruelties now practiced upon 
multitudes of offending and unoffending 

Jews. 

(124) 



NOBTH OF THE BALTIC SEA. 125 

Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, 
Where shall ye flee away and be at rest? 
The wild bird hath his nest, the fox his cave, 
Mankind their country, but Israel the grave. 

Most tourists prefer the water route from 
St. Petersburg — sailing down the Gulf of 
Finland, and across the Gulf of Bothnia to 
the Swedish capital. We came " down to our 
work," and took the land route, crossing 
Finland from side to side at the widest part. 
The country is seven hundred miles from 
North to South, and two hundred miles from 
East to West. The population numbers a 
little over two millions, 85 per cent, of whom 
are peasants. 

Every thing looks extremely Northern. 
The soil is thin, and all that grows out of it 
is stunted or dwarfed. The people have fair 
complexions, light hair, and heavy garments. 
Everybody appears to be serious, sober, and 
industrious in this well-ordered and much- 
governed country. It would be considered a 
rare thing to find a man or a woman in Fin- 
land who cannot read and write. They all 
belong- to the Lutheran Church, and outside 



126 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

of the towns and villages there are thousands 
of them who walk many miles to the " meet- 
ing -house." 

There are some Americans who would en- 
joy the free and easy manners of the railroad 
eating-houses of Finland. We went in, 
called for a table, and sat down, expecting to 
be served by the usual waiters. Nobody 
paid any attention to us, and there we sat. 
Directly we noticed a very large table in the 
middle of the room, loaded with bread, meat, 
vegetables, sweets, and the like. Every one 
who came in picked up a plate, knife and 
fork, walked up to this table, and helped him- 
self. Our hungry girls were not backward 
in going forward. So we fared sumptuously. 
When the meal was finished, each passenger 
hunted up the cashier of the establishment, 
handed him a marc and a half, and passed out 
to the train. Everybody took his time for 
every thing. " Never hurry except when 
catching fleas," is the motto of Finland. Vi- 
borg is the shipping port of the country. The 
place contains 17,000 inhabitants. We 
stopped there long enough to see a castle that 



NORTH OF THE BALTIC SEA. 127 

was built, in 1293. Nothing interests the 
average tourist more than a shattered old 
pile of the middle ages. 

Helsingfors has been the capital 01 tne 
Grand Duchy since 1819, the seat of a uni- 
versity since 1827, and owes much of its pros- 
perity to the political connection of Finland 
with Russia. It is a grand little city of 23,- 
000, and the presence of 100 professors and 
1,700 students reminds one of Cambridge. 
The hotels are exceptionally fine. 

We had no business in Abo except to see 
the Cathedral of St. Henry, with its rude and 
heavy Gothic exterior. The first Episcopal 
chair of Finland was instituted within its 
walls after their consecration by Bishop Mag- 
nus in A.D. 1300, when the city itself was 
removed to its present site from its pagan 
foundations a short distance up the river. 
This "old city" was founded A.D. 1157. 
Abo has 23,000 inhabitants, and was the seat 
of a great university up to the fire of 1827. 

In 1809 Sweden ceded to Russia all her 
rights over Finland, and after a separate ne- 
gotiation between the Finnish Diet and Alex- 



128 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

ander I. the Estates swore allegiance to the 
Tsar as the Grand Duke of Finland. The 
maintenance of the Lutheran religion and the 
integrity of their Constitution, together with 
all previous rights and privileges, were as- 
sured to the Finlanders in a solemn manifesto 
which continues to this da} r to be their zeal- 
ously guarded Charter of Rights. In virtue 
of it they have a Diet of their own, composed 
of four estates — nobles, clergy, burgesses, 
and peasantry. 

In regard to religion and education, the 
Finlanders have reason to be proud of the 
results of the legacy bequeathed to them by 
their old Scandinavian masters. An excel- 
lent system of instruction is zealously carried 
out under the superintendency of the Lu- 
theran clergy, who do not admit to the com- 
munion any person who is unable to read or 
write. 

We rounded out from Abo in the midst of 
a furious snow-storm, June 4. This troubled 
the waters of the Gulf of Bothnia, and we all 
lost reputation as sailors, except Alex. The 
boy is getting to be a regular " old sea-dog." 



NORTH OF THE BALTIC SEA. 129 

We are comfortably quartered in London 
at an inn where we have stopped twice before. 
At the table adjoining ours we have the com- 
pany of a friend of my boyhood — Zeb Vance , 
of North Carolina. He and I parted at 
Washington College forty-five years ago. 
With no introduction or hesitancy we shook 
hands instantly. We are both getting old. 
fleshy, and gray. How did we know each 
other at this distance of time and place? 
Senator Vance is accompanied by his wife 
and son. In the evening he sent up the fol- 
lowing card: 

Dear Young: If not too late when yon come in, let 
me know, and meet me in the ladies' drawing-room 
for a talk. Vance. 

We did not talk about ourselves, but of the 
bo}s we knew long ago — of their history, suc- 
cesses, defeats, death. Then we spoke of the 
changes in religious history and worship. At 
the close of this conversation, he looked me 
earnestly in the face and said : " Young, you 
have read the history of the Church and have 
now seen modern Christianity in all its phases. 
Is not our good old country meeting-house 



130 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRA VEL. 

worship the purest and best?" To which I 
replied with emphasis: "It is." And then I 
delivered my mind on every species of Rit- 
ualism. That is the germ and cause of all 
the evils that have crept into our beautiful 
and holy religion. 

We were wandering through Westminster 
Abbey the other day, when we had the pleas- 
ure of meeting Col. Ed Baxter, wife, and 
daughter, of Nashville; also Mr. Ben Allen 
and wife. It is difficult to express the de- 
light one feels when he sees the face of a 
compatriot in a strange land. I told them 
that there were twenty-two Nashville people 
over in Paris. When I asked Col. Baxter 
how he found time to leave home, he an- 
swered: "I just pulled away." There are 
other hard- wrought people who ought to pull 
away. " But it costs so much money! " All 
right, old gentlemen! Stick to your slavery. 
Make secure investments. Watch them 
closely. Live in hope. Your sons-in-law 
will be along after awhile. 

London, June 26, 1891. 



STILL DUE NORTH. 



AFTER a miserable night on the Gulf of 
Bothnia, Ave landed at the Swedish cap- 
ital. In every respect the approach to Stock- 
holm surpasses that to Constantinople. Nat- 
ure and art have left nothing undone to 
charm the eye and excite the admiration of 
a stranger. If any hotel in Europe surpasses 
"The Grand Hotel " here, we have not been 
fortunate enough to unpack within its walls. 
Stockholm has been the capital of Sweden 
for six hundred years. It is called " the 
Venice of the North," because it is built on 
islands. However, the islands are larger than 
those on which the Italian Venice is built. 
It has, perhaps, a population of 200,000, and 
the architecture of the place is as solid as 
Edinburgh. We were taken to the top of 
the celebrated " Lift," where we had a bird's- 
eye view of the city and its environs. Then 
we drove all over the place. The "Museums 

(131) 



132 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

of iNToHhern Antiquities" here would inter- 
est any man of sense or sensibility. The 
palace, built on an island, is large, massive, 
plain; and the occupant, Oscar II., is the 
third king of the Bernadotte family. They 
say that he is the tallest man in Europe. (I 
am off the continent now.) 

While wife and the young ladies were tak- 
ing their ease at their inn, Alex, and I made 
the excursion to Upsala. This is the histor- 
ical, intellectual, and religious center of 
Sweden. It is the charmed spot, the en- 
chanted ground, of the kingdom; for here 
the old kings and vikings lived and stormed 
and died; here Christianity was introduced, 
more than fifteen hundred years ago, and 
paganism fought its last battle with the new 
faith; here the great university was founded, 
and here it still grows and flourishes. 

The road to Upsala extends due north 
along the coast. On our arrival a turn-out 
was offered us, in which. we made the circuit 
of the little city. We found it clean and 
cold. An archbishop resides here, whose 
church is the grandest brick structure we 



STILL DUE NORTH. 133 

have seen. The university buildings are 
plain and enormous. The great treasure 
of the library is the "Codex Argentius." It 
is a translation of the four Gospels, made by 
Bishop Ulphilas in the fourth century. The 
manuscript contains 188 leaves, written in 
silver and gold. The language is Moeso- 
Gothic, the only specimen of that language 
now in the world. 

In the afternoon we drove to Gamla, Up- 
sala. There is nothing left here except four 
huge mounds and an ancient stone church. 
On these mounds were performed the bloody 
rites of the old Scandinavian religion. The 
largest is named Woden; the next Thor; the 
third Freya; and the fourth is called the 
Assize Hill. From the top of this the pagan 
kings addressed the multitude below and is- 
sued their proclamations. (There was no 
printing in those days.) The church-building 
marks the spot where Christianity was intro- 
duced. When, the next day, I saw in Stock- 
holm the glitter of the gorgeous vestments 
of the Lutheran clergy and the performance 
of an elaborate ritual, I thought of the sim- 



134 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

pie worship that must have been offered in 
this venerable pile. The rites of Gothic 
heathenism have gone out, but forms and 
ceremonies borrowed from the mythology 
of Greece and Koine have come in. All hi- 
erarchy and ritualism point to one result: 
the ruin of the Church as a means of con- 
verting men to the religion taught in the 
!New Testament. The magnet does not lie. 

It does not take one long to learn who are 
the demi-gods of Swedish history: Queen 
Margaret, Gustavus Yasa, Gustavus Adol- 
phus, Charles XII., and Marshal Bernadotte. 
Their pictures and statues are everywhere. 

The Swedes are refined, kind-hearted, po- 
lite. A gentleman does not enter even a shop 
without taking off his hat. - Since leaving 
Hew York I have not slept without folding 
my coat, containing letter of credit, under 
my head. In Sweden I retired as if I were 
at home. 

Now let us turn our attention to London. 
Yesterday was Sunday. For months I have 
been witnessing the idolatrous ceremonials of 
the Romish Church in France, Spain, and 



STILL DUE NORTH. 135 

Italy, and the gorgeous rites of the Greek 
Church in Poland and Russia. Of course 
my soul longed — "yea, even fainted" — for 
some court of the Lord, where I could enjoy 
an extemporaneous, intellectual, and spirit- 
ual service. So, as Mr. Spnrgeon is not well, 
[ went to hear Joseph Parker. A Wesley an 
preacher can state the plan of salvation as 
well as any man in the world, but he must 
needs wear a robe and spend the first hour 
in reading the Morning Service of the Church 
of England before "he takes his text." I 
am tired of the rags (gowns) of popery. I 
am weary of written prayers. Dr. Parker, 
in his suit of black, with black cravat and 
turn-down collar, and with his manly and 
mighty utterance of the pure gospel, suits 
me exactly. I would exchange him for our 
own Bishop Wilson, but my dear and be- 
loved friend was not here to preach. Wil- 
son's head reminds me of the Greenwich 
Observatory: it is so solid that it never 
jostles or trembles. He says and seals, but 
his heart is as tender as a mother's before he 
says it. 



136 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Mr. Spurgeon is very sick with the pre- 
vailing influenza. His people believe in the 
religion he has taught them. An all-day 
prayer - meeting was announced yesterday. 
At 7 o'clock this morning they met in the 
Tabernacle, and have been praying ever since 
for the recovery of their pastor. " It shall 
not be said that praying breath was ever 
spent in vain." 

I know nothing of Church affairs at home. 
Two papers should have been mailed to me 
regularly, but they have not come. My 
friends are beginning to write, but the most 
of their letters ask for lectures. A few of 
these shall be delivered in aid of Church 
enterprises, for which I have always worked. 
A tempting invitation from a Lecture Bureau 
in New York City has also been received. 
I shall answer " Xo," because I prefer my 
old manner of life. 

The young Emperor of Germany, a grand- 
son of Victoria, is expected here this week, 
lie has mentioned one of two Sundays in 
July when he will be pleased to visit the 
Royal Naval Exhibition. As soon as this 



STILL DUE NORTH. 137 

took air, a member of the House of Com- 
mons called the attention of the British Par- 
liament to the proposition, asking the royal 
gentleman to appoint another -day. A note 
of animadversion also rang out from the 
most robust of the city pulpits last Sunday. 
Another day has been named. England is 
not Germany, thank the Lord. England 
keeps holy the Sabbath-day. 

All Russia shudders from sea to sea. The 
crop report for June, published by the Min- 
ister of Finance, shows that a famine is in- 
evitable — such a famine as the Tsar and his 
people have not experienced since the Ro- 
manoffs have been on the throne. To avert 
the calamity, the priests are reading prayers 
to the Lord from every altar in the empire 
and sprinkling every acre of the reluctant 
soil with holy water. It may be that the 
Lord is turning their attention away from 
the unfortunate Jews. 

My near neighbors, Mrs. Burch and her 
son, have just arrived. Miss Sea well and her 
traveling party are in town. Maj. Stahlman 
and family left for Paris this morning. We 



138 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

have bought our return tickets, and shall be 
at home about the 1st of September. Some- 
body may ask if our wanderings will thou 
come to an end. I do not know. 
Loudon, June 30, 1891. 



TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 



THE entire kingdom of Norway, with 
eleven hundred miles of sea-coast, does 
not contain more people than the single city 
of London ; but they are the simplest, clean- 
est, and most religious people we ever saw 
outside of our own Southland. 

The water approach to Christiania is equal 
to that of Stockholm. The present capital 
of Norway was founded in 1624. It has 
now a population approaching 100,000. The 
former capital was Bergen. The ancient 
capital was Throndhjem. We visited them 
all before leaving the cold and sterile region. 
We did not see the "Midnight Sun;" but 
we saw it shining one hour before midnight, 
and that explained the whole cosmic won- 
der. 

Norway once depended upon Copenhagen 
for the education of her sons, but she now 

has a university of her own, situated in the 

(139) 



140 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

center of Christiaiiia, numbering fifty pro- 
fessors and one thousand students. Most of 
the museums and scientific collections of the 
city are on the university grounds. Here 
also we saw the famous Viking Ship, seventy- 
six feet in length by sixteen feet in breadth. 
When an old Xorse Viking died, a vast ex- 
cavation was made in the earth, where his 
ship and himself, his horse and all his imple- 
ments of warfare were buried. This one at 
Christiania was dug up on the shore of a 
Fjord on the Southern coast. "What fol- 
ly!" exclaims the reader. Please take no- 
tice, my friend, that if the Archbishop of 
Canterbury were to die to-day, the London- 
ers would bury him in his robes and miter, 
and with all the insignia of his high office. 
The Archbishop is probably a descendant of 
the old Viking, but the race has been 
churched and civilized, rolled and combed 
and perfumed a great deal since then. 

After driving over the city, and wander- 
ing through the Deserted Palace, we spent 
the evening in the Norwegian Parliament. 
Sweden and Norway are both under one 



TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 141 

crown, but each has its own legislative body. 
The Norse Parliament is composed of an 
Upper House and a Lower House. The first 
is called the Lagthing, the second the Stor- 
thing. We visited the Lower House. The 
members were elegantly dressed, and the 
presiding officer had them well in hand. 
Each member spoke from a manuscript. So 
you may know the proceedings were orderly 
and dull. Whenever the manuscript comes 
in, bid farewell to eloquence and excitement. 
" Drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds." 
Manufactures are in great esteem over here 
— manufactured orthodoxies, liturgies, ser- 
mons, speeches, and proceedings. 

From Christiania to Throndhjem seemed a 
great distance to ns, but we made the jour- 
ney in a little over four days. The first day 
by rail and steamcM- to Lillehamar was easy 
enough. The last three by carioies ought to 
have worn us out completely. To drive two 
hundred miles in three days keeps one busy, 
especially if he eats three meals a day, and 
sleeps at a way-side inn at night. More- 
over, we changed carioies and horses six or 



142 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TEA VEL. 

seven times a day. Each fresh little Nor- 
wegian trotter seemed wilder than the one 
we had left behind. The people of the coun- 
try do not understand a word you say; but 
when you drive up to one " station," they fit 
you out immediately for the next. A cari- 
ole holds only one person, and he does his 
own driving. We are bringing a sketch 
model home, in the hope that some enter- 
prising carriage-maker will introduce the 
vehicle. 

Throndhjem is the largest city in the world 
so far north as the latitude of Iceland. It 
contains about 25,000 souls. Most of the 
houses are built of wood, like those of Abo, 
in Finland. The streets are broad, and the 
open spaces, or squares, are large. This plan 
was adopted in view of the danger from con- 
flagrations. 

All Norwegian history centers in Thrond- 
hjem. So of literature and religion. The 
Cathedral of St, Olaf is the oldest and larg- 
est place of worship in all Scandinavia. It 
is considered so sacred that the Constitu- 
tion of the country requires all kings to be 



TOW AND THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 14o 

crowned here. The government of the coun- 
try has appropriated 80,000 crowns a year 
for its restoration. According- to the calcu- 
lations of the architect, these repairs extend 
from 1869 to 1925. We attended service 
twice on Sunday. There are no forms or 
ceremonies. The service was as simple and 
impressive as a venerable Lutheran minister 
could make it. This accounts for the piety 
of the people. 

We went so far north that we could see to 
read good print at any hour of the night. 
On the 21st of June the sun dips under the 
horizon- at 11 o'clock, and comes up again at 
1 o'clock. The absence of fruits and the 
abundance of all meats indicated that we 
were among people who live near the frigid 
zone. 

Norway is the wildest country we have 
seen except Switzerland, but the roads are 
perfect. The drives to the various water- 
falls in the neighborhood of Throndhjem are 
as delightful as one could ask. 

A sail of two days and nights down the 
western coast of Norway brought us to Bci - 



144 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

gen. It was a very quiet and pleasant run, 
for the numerous islands along the coast 
shelter the water. The hotels of Bergen are 
superb. They live on tourists. The drives 
of the back country are generally lined with 
travelers. 

Then we came across the North Sea in the 
good ship "Britannia." She is a monster 
that behaves beautifully among the waves. 
When we approached Newcastle, we found 
the fog so dense that it required us nearly 
all day to land. Strange that one cannot ap- 
proach England without getting befogged! 
We did finally get ashore, and slept that 
night in the stately city of Edinburgh. 
After a little rest in the Scottish capital, 
and revisiting the famous spots, we jour- 
neyed south to see some English country 
life. But all roads lead to London. 

The most unique collection we have seen 
is the Royal Naval Exhibition at Chelsea. 
Whatever relates to the study of oceans and 
seas, ship building and navigation, is here. 
Pictures of naval heroes, sea fights and vic- 
tories, are in abundance. Lord Nelson is 



TOWARD THE MIDNIGHT SUN. 145 

the deini-god, and Trafalgar the greatest vic- 
tory ever won on water. So the English 
think. But for their experience with the 
Thirteen Colonies, I suppose they would be 
tempted to take the word " surrender " out 
of the dictionary. Patriotism is a prominent 
virtue. They sing " God Save the Queen " 
in Canon Farrar's Church. Paganism is still 
a pew-holder. 

Dr. Parker preaches a sermon every Thurs- 
day at 12 o'clock in the City Temple, and 
has been doing so for twenty-two years. 
His church is packed every time. A glance 
at the heads of the men last Thursday re- 
minded one of a convention of bankers. They 
did not sing a national hymn, but they did 
sing "What a friend we have in Jesus!" 
Dr. Parker has driven paganism out of his 
Church. Christ reigns there. Glory be to 
his name forever! 

How rapidly time flies! So every old man 
thinks. Here now is another Fourth of 
July. I am going to see the American flag- 
before night. "Long may it wave!" It 

points to the freest and happiest country the 

10 



146 SKETCH V PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

world ever saw. I beg pardon for referring 
to age. Christians ought to feel young as 
they approach that blessed immortality where 
they publish no almanacs. 
London, July 4, 1891. 



LONDON DAY BY DAY 



OK the first Sunday in July we attended 
the Wesleyan Chapel on Great Queen 
Street. We timed the "Morning Service of 
the Church of England," as it was read and 
sung from the " Book of Common Prayer." 
It lasted exactly one hour. The preacher 
stood on his feet, and even leaned backward 
occasionally, during these devotional exer- 
cises. We never heard this service so well 
done before. The preacher and people read 
and sung with genuine Methodist vigor and 
solemnity. The sermon was short, well deliv- 
ered, and full of meaning. If the Rev. George 
Kenyon should ever see this paragraph, T 
suggest to him that John Wesley and the 
early Methodists knelt when they prayed. 
In the afternoon we were present at a re- 
vival meeting held in Exeter Hall. The 
evangelist was a Methodist from our own 

country. No man ever stated the plan of 

(147) 



148 SKETCHY PAGES OF F0BE1GN TRAVEL. 

salvation more clearly. If he had only left 
out the usual interesting (?) allusions to 
himself and his achievements, the sermon 
would have been worthy of Spurgeon. The 
evening service found us at the City Temple 
again. Parker gets better and better. 

The Salvation Army celebrated their 26th 
anniversary on Monday night. The great 
audience-room at Exeter Hall was crowded 
at one shilling admittance fee. With mar- 
tial music, waving flags, and storms of ap- 
plause, " General " Booth was received on 
the platform. He is an old gentleman (with 
an immense beard), who puts on quiet airs, 
and seems cool as a statue in the midst of 
his noisy and enthusiastic followers. There 
were present on the platform, in their na- 
tional costume, no less than one hundred and 
twenty " officers " (preachers) from foreign 
lands. I must say their hymns and prayers 
and speeches were strictly evangelical. The 
fanatical creatures all seemed to have learned 
the exact way of salvation: Repentance, 
faith in Christ, love to Christ, obedience to 
Christ. The speakers were from England, 



LONDON DAT BY DAY. 149 

America, Germany, Finland, Italy, Austra- 
lia, Norway, and Zululand. Somehow, some- 
where, somewhen, they had all learned 
enough of English to express themselves. 
Is not our language the best vehicle for the 
conveyance of gospel truth to all nations? 
These "Salvationists" publish, in books, 
magazines, and weekly papers, quite a volu- 
minous literature. We left before the meet- 
ing closed. From all serious things that are 
not done " decently and in order," good Lord 
deliver us! A gentleman is quiet, a lady is 
serene. Bishop McTyeire could "do things," 
bring events to pass, accomplish great re- 
sults, and keep cool about it. He seemed to 
have no "energy" — broke no double-trees 
or single-trees — but he invariabty moved his 
load. Bishop Wilson is his nearest of kin. 

We spent the afternoon of Tuesday at 
City Road Chapel and in Bunhill Fields 
Cemetery. They are " restoring " the old 
cradle of Methodism. Contributions of cost- 
ly materials are coming from some other 
parts of the world. They showed us a mar- 
ble column from America. The workmen 



150 SKETCHY I' AGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

leave Wesley's house just as it stood when 
he died. What a pity the old chapel has 
been made to look so modern! After visit- 
ing the tombs of John Wesley, Adam Clarke, 
Joseph Benson, and others, we stepped across 
the street into Bunhill Fields. There sleep 
John Bunyan, Isaac Watts, Daniel Defoe, 
Susanna Wesley, and many more. 

London has seven months of winter, and 
five months of bad weather. The rain was 
pouring- so profusely on Wednesday morning 
that we could make no excursions above 
ground, so we concluded to take a long ride 
on the Metropolitan Under-ground railway. 
We found the road a model of excellence, 
and the trains superb. It was a little darker 
than usual as we passed under the river 
Thames. We are all on terra firma now, 
and the girls are spending a delightful after- 
noon shopping. 

It is scarcely necessary to mention the fact 
that the German Emperor is making a ten 
days' visit to his grandmother, Queen Vic- 
toria. I suppose the American papers are 
teeming with dispatches concerning his 



LONDON DAY BY DA Y. 151 

kt progress." Each morning paper here de- 
votes columns to it, informing the public 
how and when every step is taken, lie 
landed at Windsor Castle on Saturday, at- 
tended a Thanksgiving service on Sunday, 
was present at a royal marriage on Monday, 
received a State banquet on Tuesday, came 
to the city on Wednesday, is holding a draw- 
ing-room at Buckingham Palace to-dav, will 
attend the Italian opera to-night, will make 
a procession through the city to-morrow and 
attend another banquet, will visit the Koyal 
]^aval Exhibition on Saturday, attend church 
on Sunday, and so on. This is the merest 
outline of the programme. Walks, rides, 
drives, reviews, luncheons, and garden par- 
ties fill in. The young Emperor has always 
been remarkable for his unflagging industry 
and untiring attention to business. Since 
he came to the throne all Europe has been 
astonished at the revelation of his ability. 
Instead of Bismarck, he keeps himself before 
the public. In times of peace he proposes to 
command the ship of State; and if war should 
come, he holds himself ready to lead his 



152 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

army. This is what the German peoples 
have always admired. It is rather interest- 
ing to notice the comparisons that are made, 
or rather the contrasts drawn, between the 
Emperor and his uncle, the Prince of Wales. 
(Since writing this paragraph I have read 
the morning papers. The young Kaiser has 
broken out in so many new and unexpected 
places that my gossiping pencil reluctates. 
lie has received a delegation and an address 
from the fishmongers.) 

All Thursday has been consumed by a 
visit to the Kew Gardens. We tried the 
Under-ground railway again. Our young 
friend from Xashville, J. Sykes Gilbert, ac- 
companied us. Mr. George Dazey and his 
partner, Mr. Dobbins, are also on this side. 
Landscape gardening has displayed all its 
science and art in the Kew Gardens. After 
six days of constant seeing and hearing in 
the great cit} T , it is restful and refining to 
pass a whole day in such a place as Kew. 

Our last journey from London was made 
to Windsor Castle, Eton College, and Stoke 
Pogis Church. The English people submit 



LONDON DAY BY DAY. 153 

to the expense of keeping a number of pal- 
aces to shelter their royal family. I men- 
tion the following: St. James, Buckingham, 
Windsor, Balmoral, Osborne, Hampton Court, 
Marlborough House, Sandringham, and how 
many more? 

Mr. Spurgeon seems to be nearing his end. 
Was there ever such a sensation produced 
by the illness of a city pastor? Each morn- 
ing paper contains a " bulletin " from his 
physicians announcing how he passed the 
night. Messages of sympathy are wired 
from all parts of the Christian world. The 
Primate of the Church of England has vis- 
ited him. The Archdeacon of London has 
eulogized him in a sermon from the pulpit 
of St. Paul's Cathedral. 

The London " Season " is now over, and 
the great event of the season a thing of the 
past. Of course I refer to the public recep- 
tion of the German Emperor at Guildhall. 
The city has always been generous in its 
welcome to foreign sovereigns. The Sultan 
of Turkey is welcomed one year, the Shah 
of Persia another; now it is the Emperor 



154 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

of the French who is received, and then the 
King of Sardinia; the Imperial Tsar is en- 
tertained, and so is the Emperor of Brazil. 
Nor do these people limit their welcome to 
the illustrious personages whose stately 
names are inscribed in the Almanack tie 
Hatha. Men not very far advanced in years 
can recollect the welcome given by London 
to Louis Kossuth, and later still to Garibal- 
di. This city has, more than once, even in 
our own days, entertained reigning sover- 
eigns, who afterward came back to be re- 
ceived with courtesy as imperial or royal 
exiles. And if the President of the French 
Republic should visit England, he would be 
received by the city of London with as much 
cordiality as could be shown to any king or 
kaiser. The streets of the city, which have 
echoed for centuries to the tread of royal 
processions, would witness a monster dem- 
onstration in honor of M. Carnot. 

The great preachers of London may be 
counted on one's fingers. Parker is the 
most intellectual, Spurgeon is the most elo- 
quent, Farrar the most rhetorical, Newman 



LONDON DAY BY DAY. 155 

' Hall the most religious. We chose Hull this 
morning, and were amply repaid. The old 
gentleman is seventy-five years of age. lie 
offered his resignation last week. 

The English boast that the music of St. 
Paul's is the finest in Europe. They have 
fought and colonized around the world. 
They have grasped every inch of soil and 
sand within their reach. They can digest 
more heavy meat and swallow more strong 
drink than any nation on earth. From the 
days of William the Conqueror they have 
tolerated wicked rulers enough to curse the 
world. .But the English are neither artists 
nor musicians. The singing we heard at St. 
Paul's this afternoon is not to be compared 
with that of the Russo-Greek Church, nor is 
it to be named alongside the Miserere of Italy. 
Their public speakers, with a few exceptions, 
would not be heard a second time by an 
American audience; but they can build en- 
gines, grind steel, spin cotton, weave cloth, 
train scholars, write books, make laws, and 
shatter to pieces half the navies of the world. 

This evening we went around to the Wes- 



156 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

leyan Chapel and heard an excellent sermon. 
American tourists are returning- in such 
numbers that we expect a crowded ship. 
Good-night! Look for us August 20. 
London, July 13, 1891. 



PARIS DAY BY DAY. 



THE day before we left London, a corre- 
spondent telegraphed ns not to reach 
Paris on Tuesday evening. The people 
would be celebrating the 14th of July, and 
not a vehicle would be allowed on the streets 
after sundown. But we came on, not at all 
averse to witnessing a " Fete " that marks the 
day when the Bastile was destroyed, 102 years 
ago. The English Channel was as "smooth 
as a dollar," and the journey from London 
to Paris was uneventful. On our arrival 
three cabmen offered to take us, by a round- 
about way, to Hotel St. Petersburg. We 
found our rooms all ready. 

This place seems to be the paradise of 
Americans. We have met twenty-two JSTash- 
villians already. Our good friends, B. F. 
Wilson and family, Miss Seawell and her 
company, Harry Evans and his bridal party, 
are among the number. Wilson reads Tlie 

American and sends it around. 

(157) 



158 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOBEIGN TRAVEL. 

The Paris papers each day announce the 
state of Mr. Spurgeon's health. All ranks 
and classes of people have paid their respects 
to him — princes, nobles, statesmen, prelates, 
preachers, and scholars. Telegrams of sym- 
pathy arrive daily from all parts of the world. 
Mr. Gladstone's letter is the best I have seen. 
Was ever a city pastor so popular and so be- 
loved? 

Some years ago I read " The Augustan 
Age of France." It was one of the most 
interesting works of pure literature that I 
have seen. Pascal opened the literary glo- 
ries of the reign of Louis XIV.; Fenelon, 
Moliere, Racine, and others came later. To- 
day has been spent among their monuments. 
That to Pascal is the tallest. Several of the 
others may be found in Pere la Chaise Cem- 
e'tery. 

In this city of the dead one pauses at 
many a spot. Here lie Abelard and Heloise; 
and although they have been dead five hun- 
dred years, fresh and costly bouquets are laid 
on their tombs every day. Who places the 
flowers there? No one seems to know. Like 



PARIS DAY BY DAY. 159 

Swift and Stella in Dublin, these erring- and 
sinful lovers lie side by side. An iron rail- 
ing incloses the large space allotted to them, 
and they sleep under a marble canopy. Ev- 
ergreens and roses are planted all around. 
The grave of Marshal Ney is beautifully or- 
namented, but no monument has been erect- 
ed. The mausoleum of President Theirs is 
the most pretentious structure in this cele- 
brated burial-place. If any one wishes to 
know how wickedly a great Frenchman can 
live, let him question me about M. Theirs. 

The Chicago World's Fair Commissioners 
have arrived in Paris. Their names are Mr. 
William Lindsley, Mr. A. G. Bullock, Herr 
Butterworth, Herr Hand}', and Herr Peek. 
The Germans in London sent an influential 
deputation to the Victoria Station to see 
them off. Notice the number of " Herrs." 
No one will be surprised. In Chicago, which 
has a population of 1,000,000, there are 400,- 
000 Germans. The great majority of the 
public offices of that city are in their hands. 
There are more " Sangerbunds " and German 
beer saloons in Chicago than there are lamp- 



160 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOBEIGN TRAVEL. 

posts. It thus follows that the decision to 
make the World's Fair primarily a German 
Exhibit is hailed with immense delight over 
in Fatherland. " So Galignani says." 

If I were an ethnologist, I should like to 
visit Paris next year. Steps have been taken 
by the committee appointed for that purpose 
to organize the Exhibition of the Human 
Races to take place in 1892. M. de Quatre- 
fages, member of the Institute, is, of course, 
at the head of the committee. He has al- 
ready received the promise of several distin- 
guished explorers to bring to Paris types of 
all the principal races from different parts 
of the world. Each group of individuals 
will be provided with all the tools employed 
for their work, and for the construction of 
their dwellings, which they will themselves 
build on the ground to be allotted to them. 
This arrangement will permit them to pass 
their time in their customary manner, and 
thus enable the visitors to learn much of 
their manners and customs. 

The final results of the French census of 
1891 are now known. The entire population 



PARIS DAY BY DAY. 161 

of France on April 12 of the present year 
amounted to 38,095,150, being an increase 
of 208,584 over the census of 1886. Seven 
cities like London could furnish as many 
souls as all the French Republic. 

Regularly every Sunday we attend the 
Wesleyan Methodist Church. There is less 
paganism here ("vain repetitions") than we 
find in any other Church of the city. But 
after the eulogy to-day on "Old John Brown " 
and Henry Ward Beecher, I am not prepared 
to say where we shall worship next Sunday. 
The preacher even rehearsed some lines of 
that miserable doggerel concerning "John 
Brown's body." Had Bishop Keener been 
present, he would have been tempted to 
"speak in meeting." I know his aversion 
to that song. 

This letter is not written to chronicle our 
daily routine as sight-seers, or to describe 
the delightful excursions to the environs of 
Paris. I attended to all this when I was 
here in the fall of 1886, and again in the 
summer of 1887. See « Twenty Thousand 
Miles." (The edition of that book ordered 



162 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

by Thomas Cook & Son, of London, is ex- 
hausted.) 

The mailing clerk of the Publishing House 
sent me a package of Christian Advocates 
containing my published letters. I am sorry 
to infer that so many of them have been lost. 
These shall be reproduced, and more shall be 
written, when I publish " Sketchy Pages of 
European Travel." 

The authorities of the Epworth League 
were kind enough to ask me to write a 
Church History for young people — a book 
of 312 pages. For this the material has been 
collected. 

During the solitary hours which I fre- 
quently enjoy in Paris, I read the New Tes- 
tament with an interest and delight never ex- 
perienced before. I must Avrite a little book 
to be called " Introduction to the Study of the 
New Testament." There are some " notions " 
in the religious world that are not taught in 
that sacred volume. Adieu! 

Paris, July 27, 1891. 



FAREWELL TO FRANCE. 



WE are not of those who believe that 
Paris is France; so before leaving the 
beautiful and bad city, we made some ex- 
cursions to the country. Matthew Arnold 
wrote an essay to prove that the French 
peasantry are the most industrious and pros- 
perous in the world. 

Our first trip was to Versailles. Thirty- 
two Americans found comfortable seats in a 
carriage drawn by six horses. At certain 
places on the route, our courier would order 
a halt, and give us a lecture in tolerable En- 
glish. Here are a few of his statements 
made in the course of the day : 

The church of St. Augustine was erected 
to commemorate the birth of the Prince Im- 
perial, son of Napoleon III. This prince 
was the young fellow who was captured and 
slain in Zulnland. 

The favorite resort of Parisians, Bois de 

(163) 



164 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

Boulogne, was originally a game preserve, 
but is now a public park, under the control of 
a municipality. It covers 2,250 acres — less 
than Phoenix Park, Dublin; larger than Hyde 
Park, London; inferior to Central Park, 
New York. 

The English and American visitor will be 
shocked to find that all through the spring 
and autumn races are run at Longchamps 
nearly every Sunday afternoon. There is, 
however, none of the rowdyism which pre- 
vails on the English turf, while the charge 
of an admission fee contributes greatly to 
exclude disorderly persons and thieves. 

The citadel of Mont Valerien played a 
prominent part during the siege of 1871. It 
not only caused great destruction to the for- 
eign invader, but probably saved the govern- 
ment of M. Thiers from destruction by the 
Commune, by opening fire upon the insur- 
gents as they marched to Versailles with 
the intention of capturing the government. 

The Palace of St. Cloud (now in ruins) 
was built in 1658 by Louis XIV., and pre- 
sented to the Duke of Orleans. It was af- 



FAREWELL TO FRANCE. 165 

terward purchased for Marie Antoinette. 
Napoleon I. always had a strong liking for 
the place. In 1825 Bliicher had his head- 
quarters at St. Cloud, and the capitulation 
of Paris was signed there. It was the fa- 
vorite summer residence of Xapoleon III. 
It was destroyed by fire in 1870. 

The French think the Palace of Ver- 
sailles the finest in the world. It was built, 
for the most part, by Louis XIV., at a cost 
of $200,000,000. The front is one-third of a 
mile in length. When it was finished, half 
the crowned heads of Europe wanted new 
palaces. In 1871 Versailles was occupied 
by the German forces, and on the 18th of 
January King William, of Prussia, was here 
proclaimed Emperor of Germany. On the 
departure of the Germans this palace became 
the seat of government, under the presi- 
dency of M. Thiers, and remained so until 
the }^ear 1880, when the legislative body re- 
turned to Palais Bourbon. 

On our return to the city, we called at 
Sevres. Its principal attraction is the cele- 
brated porcelain factory. Here we had no 



166 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOBEJGN TRAVEL. 

lecture from the courier, lie does not know 
so much about manufacturers as he does 
about French history. 

]S"ow if any mistakes should be discovered 
in the foregoing* paragraphs, the reader will 
remember that I am quoting from a garru- 
lous conductor, who was himself repeating 
somebody's guide book. 

The next day we took the tram-car and 
went out to St. Denis. It was befitting that 
seven Americans, before taking a final leave 
of France, should go out to St. Denis, where 
the kings have been buried from Dagobert 
I. down to the nineteenth century. And it 
is not amiss for us to join in the prayer, 
Vive la Hejmblique! 

We are glad to know that the kings have 
been decently laid away in the Cathedral of 
St. Denis. Here are all the demi-gods — 
Clovis, Charles Martel, Saint Louis, Henry 
IT., Francis I., Louis XIY., and the others. 
On the site where the Cathedral now stands 
was anciently a chapel in honor of the first 
Bishop of Paris. It was built A.D. 275. 

We shall make some excursions to the va- 



FAREWELL TO FRANCE. 167 

rious botanical and zoological gardens, and 
to the numerous libraries and factories here- 
about, but there will be no time to write. 

We are well prepared for our departure 
from Europe. Not a mile has been left out 
of our original itinerary, but many have been 
added. May we all be as well satisfied to 
leave the "shores of time! " 

From here to Havre; thence to New York; 
thence home. After the first of September 
I am at the service of my brethren. I feel 
like I have a fortune in their friendship. 
God bless you all. 

Paris, August 1, 1891. 



RESUME. 



Through Europe— Eeturn of Kev. K A. Young, 
D.D., and Party— The Great Sights That Were 
Enjoyed on the Grand Tour— A Close Observ- 
er's Comments on Countries and People — Moor- 
ish Euins of Spain, and Oriental Magnificence 
of Eussia. 

RET. R. A. YOUNG, D.D., and party re- 
turned from their foreign travels Wednes- 
day night. He and his family have made 
two extended European tours during the last 
few years, and have visited every country on 
the continent. The party who made the last 
trip comprised himself, Mrs. Young, Miss 
Susie Hunter, Mr. Alex. G. Hunter, Miss 
Estelle Hart, Miss Marga Davis, and Miss 
Lale Lester. They left Nashville in Janu- 
ary, 1890. 

" I suppose you do not want to learn an}' 
thing about our voyage across the Atlantic," 
the Doctor said to a Herald reporter who 

solicited an interview with him yesterday. 
(168) 



i:e* ume. 169 

" I may say, however, that the Trans-atlan- 
tique Line is now regarded as one of the best 
of the great ocean lines. Their steamers are 
superb, and they are handled by men who 
evidently are descended from the Normans. 

" Paris is still the social center of the great 
world of fashion. If you inquire, for in- 
stance, where Milan, the ex-King of Servia, 
resides, you will be told in the French capi- 
tal. The city and its environs are immensely 
more beautiful in summer than at any other 
season. The Bois de Boulogne is the finest 
park in the world, and St. Cloud, Versailles, 
and Fontainebleau are the largest royal 
grounds in Europe. President Carnot does 
not live at any of them except Fontainebleau, 
and that is for the pleasure of Madame. The 
new building for the French Academy is 
one of the finest structures for the purposes 
of education and learning that I have seen. 

" We made the whole circular tour of 
Spain, starting at the Bay of Biscay and 
ending at Marseilles in Southern France. 
We visited Madrid, the capital; the Esco- 
rial, where the Spanish kings and queens are 



170 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

buried; Toledo, Cordova, Seville, and Gra- 
nada, where there are famous specimens of 
Moorish architecture, and many other places. 
It is well known that the Moors of Spain 
were in their day the best educated and most 
cultivated people in the world. For 700 
years they were the teachers of the great 
scholars of Europe, who went to them for 
instruction. 

" We spent thirty days among the remains 
of Moorish civilization at Toledo, Cordova, Se- 
ville, and Granada — these are the four charmed 
spots. The interest and splendor of the ruins 
the Moors have left are not overrated. The 
ruins of the Alhambra at Granada are inde- 
scribably grand. I was in the rooms occu- 
pied by Washington Irving, his library, din- 
ing-room, and bed-room; and I brought home 
a piece of wood from the table on which he 
wrote * The Alhambra,' and on which he 
forged the materials of ' Mohammed and His 
Successors.' 

"At Granada I found * The Alhambra ' 
printed in English, Spanish, French, Ger- 
man, and Italian, on sale at every news stand 



RESUME. 171 

and in the hands of every valet de place. 
The effects of the fire on the palace of the 
Alhambra, which injured it about a year ago, 
have been very much exaggerated, and the 
repairs were completed before we landed. 
At Toledo, which is called the Pompeii of 
Spain, there was also a fire a year or two 
ago, which destroyed the Alcazar, used as a 
military academy. The Spanish people have 
a great deal of evidence of their ancient civ- 
ilization and style. 

"There is nothing new to say of cities in 
Italy, except that Rome bids fair to be 'The 
Eternal.' Since the location of the Court 
there, it has been improved according to 
modern ideas, and it already looks like Paris. 

" On our way to Austria and Germany we 
passed through Switzerland, where prepara- 
tions were being made to celebrate the 600th 
anniversary of the Republic. One feature 
of the celebration was the kindling of a fire 
on every mountain and hill top of any size in 
the country. 

" Traveling in Russia is very delightful. 
The country is monotonously level, the 



172 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TEA VEL. 

stretches very long, and the cars of the most 
easy and luxurious style. I suppose about 
one-half of all the royal stuff in Russia may 
be seen in the Kremlin at Moscow : thrones, 
robes, crowns, scepters, armor, plate, and 
jewels by the thousands. One can have no 
idea of the splendor of a semi-oriental, semi- 
barbaric capital until he sees Moscow, and 
gets within the Kremlin walls. 

"One-fourth of all the gold produced in 
the world comes from the mines of Siberia, 
and they belong to the crown. The Tsars, 
therefore, can build railroads, palaces, and 
churches to their heart's content. The peo- 
ple are a very quiet, stately race, but appear 
to a foreigner like they are too much gov- 
erned. The music everywhere is of the wail- 
ing kind and in a minor key. Eighty-five 
per cent, of the 110,000,000 population are 
peasants. 

" Our passports were demanded Avhenever 
we made a stop. They were carried to the 
Prefect of Police, and never returned until 
after we had made a start to leave; we could 
not get them before. They generally came 



RESUME. 173 

after we had paid our bill, the hotel-keeper 
handing them to us. They were viseed ev- 
erywhere. The letters that I wrote to the 
Nashville Christian Advocate about Russia 
were not mailed until I reached Stockholm, 
to avoid the possibility of their being read 
by the censor of the press. 

"Stockholm is a grand little capital, and 
its water-ways make it the Venice of the 
North. Oscar II. is the only king now 
reigning that has descended from those made 
by Napoleon Bonaparte. lie is the fourth 
ruler in the Bernadotte family. From Stock- 
holm we went to Upsala, the site of the great 
Swedish university, and from there crossed 
the kingdom to Christiania, where the Nor- 
wegian Parliament was discussing political 
questions as freely as any Democratic Leg- 
islature on the face of the earth. 

" From Christiania we went by the cariole 
route to Throndhjem, which is in the latitude 
of Iceland, and where we saw the "Midnight 
Sun." The distance was between 300 and 400 
miles, and the young people pronounced that 
the liveliest week of the trip. From Thrond- 



174 SKETCHY PAGES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 

hjem we crossed the North Sea to Edin- 
burgh. Then we spent a month in London, 
and a month in Paris. A person could be 
interested in London as long as he should 
stay there. The most astonishing thing 
about it is its immense size." 

Being asked about the morality of Euro- 
peans as compared with Americans, Dr. 
Young said : " If I should place the moral- 
ity and religion of any part of Europe in 
comparison with the moral and religious 
condition of the United States, I would be 
compelled to give the preference to our own 
people." 



■ : ■ . ■' 




